Tag Archives: Isaiah 30:21

Listening To The Voice That Matters

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Noise. Confusion. Doubt. Chaos. So much bombards our life making it difficult to know which way to go sometimes. A devotion from Streams in the Desert says we are to be still and listen for God’s clear direction when our path seems uncertain.

“When we are in doubt or difficulty, when many voices urge this course or the other, when prudence utters one advice and faith another, then let us be still, hushing each intruder, calming ourselves in the sacred hush of God’s presence; let us study His Word in the attitude of devout attention; let us lift up our nature into the pure light of His face, eager only to know what God the Lord shall determine—and ere long a very distinct impression will be made, the unmistakable forth-telling of His secret counsel.”

This devotion tells us to take our questions to God. It says if we will get alone with God where the lights and shadows of earth cannot interfere, where human opinions fail to reach, and wait there silent and expectant, even though all around us insists we make an immediate decision or action, the will of God will be made clear.

The world clamors for our attention in light and shadow. Everyone has an opinion and advice they aren’t afraid to share, whether the sharing is done in a healthy way or not.

The world works hard to pull us away from following closely after Jesus. Voices all around us tell us what we should do and how we should do it, often against what God’s Holy Word tells us we should do. At those times, as the Streams in the Desert devotion writer suggests, we are to shut out the intruders, and calm ourselves in God’s truths.

God doesn’t shout to be heard. He doesn’t rush us toward a decision. He doesn’t keep us so active or agitated we can’t hear from him. He doesn’t frighten or push us. Those are the deceiver’s tactics, not God’s.

Just as the sheep know the shepherd’s voice by being still and listening to it, we can know Jesus’ voice in the same way. But first, we must shut out the imposter’s voice.

“STAND STILL,” my soul, for so thy Lord commands: 
E’en when thy way seems blocked, leave it in His wise hands; 
His arm is mighty to divide the wave. 
“Stand still,” my soul, “stand still” and thou shalt see 
How God can work the “impossible” for thee, 
For with a great deliverance He doth save.

Be not impatient, but in stillness stand, 
Even when compassed ’round on every hand, 
In ways thy spirit does not comprehend. 
God cannot clear thy way till thou art still, 
That He may work in thee His blessed will, 
And all thy heart and will to Him do bend.

“BE STILL,” my soul, for just as thou art still, 
Can God reveal Himself to thee; until 
Through thee His love and light and life can freely flow; 
In stillness God can work through thee and reach 
The souls around thee. He then through thee can teach 
His lessons, and His power in weakness show.

“BE STILL”—a deeper step in faith and rest. 
“Be still and know” thy Father knoweth best 
The way to lead His child to that fair land, 
A “summer” land, where quiet waters flow; 
Where longing souls are satisfied, and “know 
Their God,” and praise for all that He has planned.
—Selected

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And if you leave God’s paths and go astray, you will hear a voice behind you say, “No, this is the way; walk here.” Isaiah 30:21 (TLB)

You can find my October Inspire a Fire post here. Please stop by and read it.

I wish you well.

Sandy

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This Is The Way

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courtesy wikipedia

Leonhard Seppala’s lead dog, Togo.

In 1925 a life or death mission was undertaken by twenty mushers and more than 100 sled dogs. This mission would not have succeeded if the dogs pulling the sleds carrying diphtheria antitoxin serum, refused to listen to their musher’s voice saying, This is the way.

The diphtheria epidemic threatened Nome, Alaska. Nome’s supply of antitoxin expired, and the town’s doctor refused to use it. The nearest antitoxin was in Anchorage. Nearly one thousand miles away. The only way to get the antitoxin to Nome was by sled dog. After receiving the serum by plane in Nanana, the mushers with their sled dogs relayed the 20-pound cylinder of serum to Nome. 674 miles and five and a half days later the serum arrived safely in Nome.

Followers of Christ are tasked with a life-saving mission to take an antitoxin serum–God’s truth and love–to a sick and dying world. For our mission to succeed, we need to listen to God’s voice. He is the one who directs our path in the way we should go.

Our mission to carry the Good News of salvation through Christ Jesus is a coordinated mission. It takes each and every one of us working together.

The way is treacherous filled with adverse conditions and winding trails. At times we may face extreme white-out conditions. The only way to know the direction we should travel is by listening to the voice behind us saying, This is the way. Walk in it.

We may feel like giving up. Like our strength is gone. But we aren’t alone. Others in the  race run beside us, helping us carry the serum.

When trail markers become hidden in the storm causing us to take a wrong turn, the voice behind says, This is the way. Walk in it. At the sound of his voice we make a correction, and get back on the correct trail.

During those times when the trail is too difficult to forge on our own, our Leader walks in front of us, guiding us, whispering to us, This is the way. Walk in it.

Taking the familiar trail may seem more logical than the one the voice behind us calls us to take. That’s when we have a choice. Believe God knows more than we do, or not. Listen to his voice and follow, or not.

One way to hear God’s voice is to spend time listening for it through meditating on his word. We need to become so familiar with our Master’s voice, if another voice tries to direct us, we recognize it as a fraud and shut our ears to it.

God’s voice stills, reassures, leads, enlightens, forgives, calms, encourages, and comforts. The enemy’s voice rushes, frightens, pushes, confuses, condemns, stresses, discourages, and worries.

As was true in 1925, our life-saving mission today is of the utmost importance. The trail and weather conditions are extreme. The dedication to save lives is sacrificial. The end result is more than worth it.

This is the way. Walk in it.

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Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”  Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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Follow the Leader

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In preparation for several upcoming road trips, we needed to drop our RV at the dealership. Pilot led the way in the RV and I followed in my car.

While playing Follow the Leader on the playground in days of old brings back fond memories, following Pilot through heavy early morning traffic, road construction, fog, and drizzly rain does not. Especially when unsure of the route he chose to travel.

Being behind something the size of the RV, which blocks any view of what’s ahead, meant I had to stick close, but not too close. I had to prepare to stop quickly, get through yellow lights before they turned red, and switch lanes as soon as Pilot turned on his blinker.

Although I had no idea if there were obstacles ahead, traffic lights, or lanes which ended abruptly, Pilot did. I needed to trust him and stay vigilant. I needed to keep my eyes on the signal lights at the back of the RV and respond correctly. This was definitely not a time to allow my eyes to wander.

We sped up and slowed down. We wove around construction barrels and potholes. We crawled past concrete barriers and machinery.

Although I usually allow vehicles to scooch in between me and the vehicle in front of me, not this day. No siree. Sure. I could still see the top of the RV if another car or truck got between Pilot and me but I wouldn’t be able to see the indicator lights. I wouldn’t know when I needed to change course.

During this drive I thought of how we are to Follow the Leader – Jesus. We need to keep our eyes on his indicator lights to see the direction he wants us to go. We can’t see ahead in the fog and drizzle of life, and aren’t sure of the path ahead. But Jesus knows the way we should go.

We need to be prepared to stop quickly or change lanes immediately to avoid potholes and debris. If we pause to analyze or debate the decision, we might find our self in an unpleasant situation, or dead end lane we could have avoided.

We also need to be willing to press the gas pedal to make it through those yellow lights. We don’t want to be left behind and lose sight of our Leader.

Like Pilot and my route through miles of road construction, life can be filled with unending delays, setbacks, frustration, and short tempers.

We need to be mindful of things in our life which try to get between us and our Leader. We don’t want to allow anything to get between us and Jesus which blocks our view of him. If we do, we might miss a turn and have to circle back to find the correct road.

Sometimes we may question the path Jesus takes us down. We may believe we’d do a better job leading. We might even head out in a different direction to prove our point, believing there surely must be a better, more convenient, less stressful way to get where we’re going.

It’s during those trying times we need to scooch closer, trust he knows where we’re going, and keep our eyes on his signal lights so we don’t miss a turn or run into the debris in our path we aren’t able to see.

So what do you think? Do you find it easier to lead, or to follow?

Leave a comment below to share your thoughts on the subject. If you think others would appreciate reading this, please share it through the social media buttons.

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)

I wish you well.

Sandy

Please enter your email address on the form located on the right sidebar to sign up to receive posts every Tuesday and Thursday. Thanks!

This is the Way

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by Sandy Kirby Quandt

Have you ever been lost? Perhaps you’ve thought, this is the way, only it wasn’t?

I seem to have more trouble with getting lost driving downtown than I do any other place. Hiking on trails, I usually do okay. Probably because they’re marked.

Of course, there is the problem of my getting lost when I’m in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Israelites of the Old Testament had a problem with going off their own way and getting lost. The first verse of Isaiah chapter 30 says, “Woe to my rebellious children, says the Lord; you ask advice from everyone but me, and decided to do what I don’t want you to do.” They went down to Egypt and sought Pharaoh’s help instead of depending on God.

The Israelites ignored God’s prophets. They ignored God’s word. They did what they wanted, and went their own direction. In reply to their disobedience, God said, “Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in frauds and lies and won’t repent, calamity will come upon you.”

Only in listening to God’s truth and repenting would they be saved.

Sometimes we get lost, too. Maybe not because we took the wrong exit ramp off the freeway or followed the wrong hiking trail. We get lost because we ignore God’s word, thinking we know better than he does and head off in a direction of our own choosing.

We don’t listen to God’s voice when he tells us, “This is the way. Walk here.”

Instead of following others, shouldn’t we follow God?

Leave a comment below to share your thoughts on the subject. If you think others would appreciate reading this, please share it through the social media buttons.

And if you leave God’s paths and go astray, you will hear a voice behind you say, “No, this is the way; walk here.”  Isaiah 30:21 (TLB)

I wish you well.

Sandy

Please enter your email address on the form located on the right sidebar to sign up to receive posts every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Thanks!

One of my posts is scheduled to appear on Inspire a Fire today, January 6, 2018. Please stop by and check it out.

[bctt tweet=”Sometimes we get lost because think we know better than God. We don’t listen to his voice when he tells us, “This is the way. Walk here.”” username=”SandyKQuandt”]

Sunday Scriptures — Magnetic Force

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by Sandy Kirby Quandt

In elementary school I was fascinated when I first learned about a compass and magnetic force. I loved to watch the red needle of my handheld compass swing back and forth until it pointed north toward the top of Earth’s magnetic field. I knew if I was ever lost, all I needed to do was hold out my compass and follow its direction north.

I also loved to play with “Wooly Willy”. You know. The game where you used a magnet to move iron shavings all around Willy’s face and gave him a mustache, eyebrows, beard.

Of course, before I could use my compass if I was lost, that meant I needed to know whether I should walk north, south, east or west to my desired destination. But at least I would know where north was.

Through the years I’ve learned more about magnetic force.

It doesn’t always point exactly north. The Earth’s magnetic North Pole is not the same as “true north”, the Earth’s geographic North Pole. The magnetic North Pole lies about 1,000 miles south of true north, in Canada.

To confuse us even more, the magnetic North Pole isn’t even a stationary point. Over the last century, it has shifted more than 620 miles toward Siberia. Seems there are disturbances in the force, I mean field ;), that can cause a compass needle to point away from both the geographic North Pole and the magnetic North Pole. This is called declination.

Enough science. What’s all this got to do with anything?

There is an eternal compass that doesn’t shift. It never fails to point us in the correct direction. To True North. When we’re lost and stumbling around trying to find our way, this compass never fails to give the lost a sense of direction.

Some believe they have an internal compass. I always thought I had a terrific sense of direction until Pie and I took a trip south of the equator. Boy, was I wrong.

Just like me and my false sense of direction in the southern hemisphere, we may falsely believe we have a terrific internal moral compass that keeps us on the straight and narrow.

Bumps and dips on the Earth’s surface can cause declination. Bumps and dips in our lives can threaten to pull us off course, too. When our internal moral compass gets pulled off course, we tend to head away from God down the wrong path.

When disturbances, declinations, in our lives cause our internal guidance system to pull away from God, how do we get back on track? I believe turning to the Bible and reseting our sights on what is true and worthy to be pursued is a good starting point.

The same way Earth’s magnetic field pulls the needle on a compass and points it to true north, when we surrender the declination of the bumps and dips of our own wills to the True Force, he will point us in the correct direction we should go.

May the True Force be with you now and always.

Have you ever used a compass to help when you were lost? What about Wooly Willy? Did you ever have one of those?

Leave a comment below to share your thoughts on the subject. If you think others would appreciate reading this, please share it through the social media buttons.

And if you leave God’s paths and go astray, you will hear a voice behind you say, “No, this is the way; walk here.” Isaiah 30:21 (TLB)

I wish you well.

Sandy

Please enter your email address on the form located on the right sidebar to sign up to receive posts every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Thanks!