Knowing God - Psalm 85:8

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Your Name is QUIETNESS

Father God, when the noise of life distracts me, help me

wait upon the still, small, true voice that leads me not into temptation.

What tempts you? And have you listened hard enough to hear God’s still, small voice speaking to you?

 

I am listening.

What will the Lord God say?

He will speak peace to his holy ones

- but only if they don't relapse into folly.

Psalm 85:8

 

Two petitions in the Lord's Prayer guard us from trials.

 

When we pray, "Deliver us from evil," we are seeking protection from EXTERNAL influences.

 

"Lead us not into temptation" points in a different direction. It is asking protection from INTERNALvoices.

 

Internal voices? I'm not talking about hearing "real" voices in our head. I'm talking about the "self-talk" ... the rationalizations ... the excuses we tell ourselves ... the way we justify whatever is not quite right. 

 

Have you ever heard the phrase, "You are what you eat"? Most of us have spent the past several decades saturated in the things of this world. Think of what's watched on TV. We ingest violence, commercialism, promiscuity, lying, cheating, vanity, and profanity.

 

In this noisy, busy world, these are the voices we keep hearing in our heads. Whether we intended it or not, there's this banging drumbeat of commercialism, rationalization, and emptiness.

 

Today, claim a little solitude and listen instead for the still small voice.

 

Dust off the Bible, spend a few extra minutes with God, and see if his words aren't a little more clear.

 

Quit arguing in your head with what in scripture is right and true, and yield your heart like clay to the Potter's hand.

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who hears voices in his head

(and tries to put in enough of God's Word

that is God's truth that we hear) 

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I have heard frequently this year, "You need to record over the tape in your head." or "You need a new dvd to play in your mind." I have horrid self-talk.  It is so negative.  And comes so quickly...I started a project recently and quickly realized that it was not going to be completed.  My immediate thought was, "Just another thing I am a failure at."  I KNOW it isn't from God, but that is what I hear unbidden.

I have trouble being quiet.  My mind swirls so much that quiet just doesn't happen.  I have been given dozens of suggestions to quiet my mind, but they are either far-fetched or are not my style.  Something will happen. somehow. Some way. Some day.