Voices
The glorious sounds of The Messiah filled our house one afternoon when our daughter Abby had a friend over. We have several versions of Handel's great oratorio and I would have serious trouble trying to tell one from the other just from the sound coming from the speakers. Not Abby's friend.
"That's my mom," she said, as casually as you please as she walked down the hall from one room to another.
Sure enough it was her mom. Her parents were both professional singers and this particular recording by The Toronto Symphony Orchestra was featuring her mother as the mezzo-soprano soloist. We were in awe at her ability to pick out the sound of her mother's voice even in such casual circumstances. It seemed so cool! She knew her mother's voice.
Last evening, Irene and Frances and I attended, with Belinda, the annual gala for the Word Guild, where outstanding Canadian authors are recognized for their achievements. Belinda was listed as a "speechwriter" in the programme credits and we three had tagged along with her to encourage, celebrate and listen to the words which had been put together by our friend.
When it came time for her big moment, I was amazed. Someone else was reading what she had written (in this case a man - with a deep voice!) but I could hear her writing "voice" in the words he was speaking. I have read so much of her work that I could tell which parts were "her" last night and which parts had been edited in by someone else. Cool!
It's like that with God's voice. The more our relationship with Him grows, and the more we "listen" for his voice, the more we are able to discern it from all the other messages which come at us in our lives. He doesn't always speak in words, I find. He speaks through his Word, of course, but he confirms that Word in a thousand different ways. But we have to have listened enough, to have developed that discerning ear.
This weekend, as we are at Write! Canada, I want to make sure I am ready and waiting to hear that Voice above all other voices. That was my prayer on the way here this morning and all day long, I've been recognizing what He has been saying to me through the encouraging words of others, through things that I've read, and different circumstances that have come about.
How cool is that?
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." John 10:27 (NIV)
"That's my mom," she said, as casually as you please as she walked down the hall from one room to another.
Sure enough it was her mom. Her parents were both professional singers and this particular recording by The Toronto Symphony Orchestra was featuring her mother as the mezzo-soprano soloist. We were in awe at her ability to pick out the sound of her mother's voice even in such casual circumstances. It seemed so cool! She knew her mother's voice.
Last evening, Irene and Frances and I attended, with Belinda, the annual gala for the Word Guild, where outstanding Canadian authors are recognized for their achievements. Belinda was listed as a "speechwriter" in the programme credits and we three had tagged along with her to encourage, celebrate and listen to the words which had been put together by our friend.
When it came time for her big moment, I was amazed. Someone else was reading what she had written (in this case a man - with a deep voice!) but I could hear her writing "voice" in the words he was speaking. I have read so much of her work that I could tell which parts were "her" last night and which parts had been edited in by someone else. Cool!
It's like that with God's voice. The more our relationship with Him grows, and the more we "listen" for his voice, the more we are able to discern it from all the other messages which come at us in our lives. He doesn't always speak in words, I find. He speaks through his Word, of course, but he confirms that Word in a thousand different ways. But we have to have listened enough, to have developed that discerning ear.
This weekend, as we are at Write! Canada, I want to make sure I am ready and waiting to hear that Voice above all other voices. That was my prayer on the way here this morning and all day long, I've been recognizing what He has been saying to me through the encouraging words of others, through things that I've read, and different circumstances that have come about.
How cool is that?
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." John 10:27 (NIV)
Comments
I can "hear" your voice in this blog post:)I usually can tell when it is someone other than Belinda.
Blessings,
Debbie