As I was walking around the block the other day, I was listening to a song that really grabbed my attention. For the first time in a while, I listened closely to the words. The song was called "Listen to the Sound," hence the name for this post. I have heard this song time and time again, but it didn't dawn on me that the words were talking about the voice of God. Part of the lyrics go like this: You'll never know what faith is til you don't understand. Sometimes it takes the silence to finally hear His plans. Listen to the sound of hope that's rising up. Over your old horizon. Listen to the sound. Listen to the sound. Listen to the sound of a new beginning. This is where the old is ending. Listen to the sound.
Sound is something we often take for granted. There are noises everywhere, yet we only hear what we want to. Most people refer to this as selective hearing. We do the same thing with God. We often only listen to what we want to hear.
Here's a short science lesson for you...Sound is produced by vibrations moving back and forth, and must come from a definite source, or medium. Sound can travel in a variety of ways, but one way is by an echo. There is a delay between the sound and an echo because it takes time for sound to make its way to the object (medium) and back. All sound waves are different. If you think about instruments, they can all play the same note, yet sound completely different from one another.
The vibration that we hear, as Christians, is the still small voice of our Lord. He is also the definite source of the sounds we should be listening to. When we choose to drown out the sound of God's voice, there is a delay between what He is trying to say to us and the time it takes for us to listen to His echo. We are each different, and respond to the voice of God at different speeds. We often get angry at God because He didn't do things the way we wanted Him to. He didn't heal. He didn't restore. He didn't help. He didn't save. We are no longer listening to the sound of God's voice as we begin to blame Him for everything that is going wrong in our lives. When we start to ignore God, we automatically begin to listen to other noises around us. We listen to the lies that the devil tells us: You're not worth anything. God doesn't care about you. You've messed up so much, He won't want you back anyway. You're not good for anything. You might as well give up on that lifestyle, and have some fun. You have plenty of time to get right with God after you do what you want. The sound of lies echoes through our minds, and drowns out the voice of truth. What sounds have you been listening to? Lies or truth? God or something else?
Despite the sounds you have been listening to, God still wants His voice to be heard in your life. He is calling out, and thankfully, His sound is louder than all the others. He may become silent for a time, but maybe He is increasing your faith. If you have been talking to God and He isn't answering, He might be doing things you couldn't understand. Maybe He is telling you to "wait." We might not hear the sound in our ears like we hear chirping birds outside our window, or a car as it drives past, but if we listen to the sounds from within, God's voice is sure to win. The sound of love and truth is greater than the sound of destruction and lies that fight for our attention. Listen to the sound. Listen closely. When you begin to listen to the right sounds, this is what you'll hear:
The sound of victory
The sound of peace
The sound of love
The sound of hope
The sound of joy
The sound of laughter
The sound of forgiveness
The sound of grace
The sound of redemption
Do you hear that?
Stop & Listen