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ThTh.004: “…For they know His voice”
Have you ever been sent reeling over wondering if some tiny detail you noticed is a sign or not? If you are an over thinker like me, chances are you do this all the time! I can drive myself absolutely crazy by over analyzing situations and “coincidences” because I don’t believe in coincidence! I believe that coincidence is a term we humans came up with to explain away the things in this life that seem to point to an all knowing, loving and logical, heavenly father. It is mans attempt to write off the things that “work together for good” as mere products of probability therefore discounting our creator and His ultimate plans for us. Anything in this life that naturally works together so well that it all points towards a unified outcome or idea can only be the work of an omniscient and omnipotent God.
In John chapter 10 is where Jesus describes Himself as our Good Shepherd, we are His sheep. As His sheep, we know His voice. When we hear Him call to us and guide us to certain fields, we can have peace because we know He cares for us and so wherever He is taking us will be for our ultimate good. It is when we sheep forget that or blatantly choose to confuse the matter by wondering whether it’s coincidental that things begin to fall apart. Maybe another voice that sounds kind of like God is actually telling us that thing and really since it doesn’t look like we hoped it would, it is scarier than we thought it would be, we don’t think we deserve it, or we feel like it is beneath us to go there or do that thing, maybe we need to ignore that calling and take control of our lives instead. I feel kind of bad for ignoring it though so let’s try to find some peace in ourselves too, for not taking that chance….”it’s probably just a coincidence. It is not really God saying that, it couldn’t be! He would call us to something fun, successful, glamorous and comfortable right?!”
Wrong!! This is exactly how we all get stuck in comfortable complacency. We were not called to be comfortable and we were never promised easy! Sometimes…scratch that, most times, what we are called to by God will not make sense to us. It will seem hard, humiliating, or unachievable but that is the point! He is powerful in those circumstances to accomplish what we never thought possible, and all the more for His glory in our weaknesses! We can only see part of the picture, He sees it all. Back to the sheep analogy, If we truly have assurance that we are His children, then we can stop over analyzing most of the signs in our life. Yes, we still need to apply wisdom in every circumstance because there could be a devils advocate trying to make us stumble but, even if we get tripped up every now and then, we can get back up and shake it off knowing that even in that failure God was growing us and teaching us how to identify His voice better for the next time.
So chill sheep! Trust your knowledge of your Good Shepherd’s voice and follow the callings He places on your heart. The worst you can do is fail and that just leads to more character development. We are already cast on the winning side so what have we got to lose?! Let’s live boldly and go where no sheep has gone before! haha
Blessings FAM!
What has the Shepherd told you recently that you have been trying to coincidence away? What are you scared of that is causing your doubt in that being a true calling from God? Give all your anxieties over to Him and let Him replace them with peace. It can be scary even when the thing is really good. Maybe it just seems too good, like you don’t deserve it. That’s true but isn’t that amazing?! God loves you and want’s you to experience it anyway! Don’t let fear of the unknown or wallowing in self pity keep you from following His voice and chasing after His promises for you!
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WW.004: No Fight Left | by JJ Heller
If you don’t listen to this song and instead judge it by the title alone, you may think it is pretty bleak and depressing. What I have to say about it and the truth of the message if you listen to it, in fact, is completely opposite. It is freeing and brings peace…to me anyway!
I am writing this today, on the day it is to be posted. I almost didn’t even try to get a blog post written today. I was talking myself out of caring or having any “fight left” because I am pretty sure no one actually reads these, much less is waiting to read the next one with bated breath. I tell myself it doesn’t matter if I keep writing. I make excuses for why I could stop right now, so easily. Last month I blogged consistently for the first time in my life. I made a plan and posted twice a week for roughly the last six weeks. I am proud of that so I can stop now right? If no one is reading them and it is just another thing for me to do, I have every right to stop and pivot to a new outlet don’t I?
No, I can’t give up that easily. What I need to do is give it up to God. I know that I can never maintain consistency in anything without His help. What’s more is, I never want to have to try! We can never get it right all the time or accomplish everything we are “supposed” to on our own. We get lazy or prideful and we mess it up. I don’t know if I will blog forever but that is not for me to decide. The reason I started blogging is to put my thoughts and inspirations out into the physical world for others to connect with and become part of the journey I believe God has called me to. I do not get to call it quits now, but it is also not me that is conveying anything through this, it is Him. I need to remember that and when I want to give up, instead I need to give it up to God. He will always come through and provide a way to accomplish the things I feel too burnt out to do. What I may convince myself is worthless and no one cares about, could very well be exactly what at least one person who stumbles on this site needs to hear. That is more than worth being obedient to the “little” things always!
If you listen to the song, I hope you feel the essence of what I’ve described here and latch on to the significance of it. I don’t want to always have to over analyse or dissect the connections from song to blog topic because I want you to be able to derive the message on your own. Understanding and applying worship songs like this to life is great training for reading and understanding the messages in the bible. Music is one of the first and remains one of the easiest ways for me to relate and engage with intimate ideas of others and thus learn to “human” haha! Song writing is therapy and some artists have such profound wisdom that can only be understood by listening to the way God inspired them to set that wisdom to music. So if you didn’t listen to the song, or even if you did, listen to it again and really try to connect with what is being said. Try not to just enjoy the melody but seek to relate with the author; of the song and where they are coming from but also of life and what He is trying to teach through that God-breathed piece of inspiration.
Blessings FAM!
What is the way you learn best? Do you connect with God and wisdom through music? I believe every creative thing we do is just our attempt at mimicking the greatest creator, the creator of the universe and everything in it. Like Father, like children! We are created to create and the things we create exist to continue teaching and inspiring creativity in others. So if not music, then what? What form of art do you resonate with and how does it inspire you to create and share your story?
