Voices

"Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord answered him, “Go, for I will surely hand the Philistines over to you.” - 2Sam 5:18-19 Reading two newspapers a day, you expose yourself to news of much carnage and disturbing reports of all manner. After a while even great atrocities can be easily dismissed as merely "news" without any kind of visceral reaction, as would certainly be the case if such "news" was happening close by. But sometimes certain things are brought to remembrance - whether by circumstance, or by conversation - and when that happens it gives pause to think. Late last month I was with a brother in Christ and we were discussing how God speaks to His people in personal dialogue. It was noted that while most every Christian hears God speaking though the Scriptures, through preaching, through interactions with other Christians and even sometimes through circumstances, not many actually know how to dialogue with God on a regular, daily basis. Or even how to discern His voice in matters of import. That isn't necessarily because He isn't speaking to us, but because we often just don't know how to listen to His Spirit. Specifically, we no longer know how to practice the spiritual discipline of listening prayer. That's profoundly sad when you realize that Jesus died so we could have a living relationship with God Most High - a relationship that starts with and includes (as all do) conversation. One can easily make the case that it isn't just listening prayer that we don't know. The time pressures of life in Western society are not conducive to spiritual growth, and many do not regularly practice any kind of prayer, much less Bible study! Without those critical foundations it is only a matter of time till we loose the ability to hear Him even in circumstance (often the bluntest instrument of His voice). As the sound of His voice is ignored, the sound of other voices grows louder. The week before I spoke to my friend about this, the Ottawa Citizen reported during Norway shooter Anders Breivik's trial that "When it came to shooting dead the first victim, Breivik said voices were telling him not to do it: "My whole body tried to revolt when I took the weapon in my hand. There were 100 voices in my head saying, 'Don't do it, don't do it'." Sadly, in his determination to follow his own plan (arguably his own 'voice'), Breivik managed to ignore even those voices, and so he shot 67 people and created a national tragedy. Subsequently, Breivik's entire trial is about discerning which voice(s) should be listened to - the voices of his victims, or the voices of his attorneys. In taking the stand the world listened to his (Breivik's) voice. Soon the world will listen to the judge's voice. Breivik's example is a stark reminder that must exercise discernment in listening. Not only in matters of life and death decisions, but in the still and quiet practice of daily listening. Failure to listen to the right voice - failure to discern correctly - leads to personal tragedy (if not national tragedy). So ponder this for a while; Which voice are you listening to? http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/There+were+voices+head+saying+says+Norway+shooter+Breivik/6490585/story.html#ixzz1tuOCu67G