Good morning, Five Minute Families. We hope you had an excellent holiday weekend whether you had a simple, quiet one at home or were able to join with some friends or family to celebrate. Ours was going to be with a small amount of extended family but even that got cancelled last minute due to the wonderful COVID-19 coronavirus. We made the most of it anyway and enjoyed ourselves despite the ever-changing plans.

Ever-changing… That word makes me think. We are told to be flexible and to strive for excellence but also to accept whatever comes our way. That can be so very hard at times. Isn’t it nice to realize that God is NEVER-changing? To realize that while circumstances may alter around us often, we can have faith in God’s constancy. He is all-powerful and majestic. We never need to doubt that He will use all these things for His glory and our good.

Psalm 29 tells us to give the Lord His glory and to worship the Lord in holy splendor. And, then the psalm goes on to describe God’s voice. When a physical, earthly storm rages, we can hear the power and majesty of our earth. Yet, we need to look at the power and majesty of the Creator of those weather storms – so much more than the storms themselves. We must remember when a spiritual or circumstantial storm rages around us that God’s voice is powerful and imposing through it all.

We read that the Lord’s voice:

1. Is over the waters… the many waters. Do you ever feel like you are drowning? That you just can’t seem to catch your breath long enough for the next wave to come crashing?

The Lord’s voice:

1. Breaks the cedars of Lebanon… those are REALLY, REALLY big trees that are normally 30-60 feet wide but can reach up to 80 feet wide.

The Lord’s voice:

1. Flashes forth flames of fire… He can light up the sky and set the world on fire with the power of the lightning.

The Lord’s voice:

1. Shakes the wilderness… do you feel shaken sometimes by the enormity of what God is doing, what He has done, or has called you into doing? The wind can be so powerful in a storm, the trees bend to its will.

And, lastly, the voice of the Lord:

1. Makes the deer give birth and strips the forest bare. That’s right, the terror of the Lord’s voice can make animals give birth early and can shred the forest of all its beauty.

The earth must bend to the power and might of the voice of the Lord, for, indeed, the Lord’s voice is commanding. But, Five Minute Families, we do not have to live in fear of the power of God’s voice like His earthly creation.

First, we must recall that He gave us a refuge in Him. We always have refuge in the storms of life when we turn to Him. Psalms 94:22 tells us, “But the Lord is my refuge; my God is the rock of my protection.”

Second, we need to remember that while at times the Lord speaks with thunderous power; other times He speaks in a still small voice like in 1 Kings 9.

The reality is that God will not always meet our expectations. He will defy them; He will exceed them, but He will not always speak to us the way we are expecting Him to.

So, how then can we truly hear – and not fear – the voice of God?

1. Spend time in the Word daily. You see, Samuel may not have recognized God’s voice when Eli did, but you and I can recognize His voice because we have His NEVER-changing Truth to compare our thoughts and ideas to.
2. Listen to God. If you think a thought or feel a feeling as you are seeking the Lord, allow yourself to explore it briefly. First, check it against His written word; He will never contradict Himself. Then, if the thought continues, begin the next step which is…
3. Speak to Him in prayer. Ask God if the thoughts you are having come from Him. Read and meditate on His word.
4. Be willing to wait for confirmation before you act. Confirmation can come in many ways such as peace in the decision, timing of the need to act, and circumstances aligning.
5. Sometimes, if we are still having trouble with a decision, then we need to seek Godly counsel. Iron sharpens iron, and we know that “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14).

Five Minute Families, we pray you are blessed as you seek to hear the voice of the Lord this week. God bless!