It seemed like a constant stream: from one moment to the next, everyone came through my front door and everything needed my attention. There were many people to talk to, many more things to get done, and in between was my youngest son Aidan asking me a question. Overwhelmed by all the commotion, I asked him to wait...and to wait...and to wait...and suddenly everything had stopped and everyone was gone, including Aidan.
I looked for him and found him lying in his bed, face down in the pillow, crying. Sitting down and leaning over, I gently asked him why he was crying. Through his pillow and his tears he said, “I just wanted you to help me draw.”
His simple question was lost in the roar of what was around me.
What or whose whisper are you losing in the roar around you?
The roar of vision comes with incredible excitement as God speaks ideas, dreams or strategies to our hearts. The vision can fill our thoughts and fuel our actions to such an extent that, as a result, we often lose the whisper of God’s voice. Momentum becomes more important than prayer. The necessity of hearing and heeding Jesus’ voice in every step we take is forgotten in the urgency of our next decision or meeting. We assume because of the roar that we’re still on the right track, without ever recognizing that our ear may not be in tune with nor inclined towards His whisper.
The roar of inattentiveness to our own hearts is often the cause of unnecessary damage to our home, our marriage and our family. If we fail to recognize within ourselves our weaknesses or heed the whisper of the “warning signs” that we’re about to take an emotional nose dive or give way to discouragement or anger, it’s not only we that suffer, but our spouse and children become the casualties of the whisper fading into the distance.
The roar of busyness can subtly or violently crush the whisper of the ones we love bringing something to our attention that is harmful, or has the potential to be. We can ignore the emotional distance being created between us and them. We claim self-discipline and priorities, while we refuse to rest and to have fun. The whisper wants you to pray, talk, and relieve tension and stress. The roar wants you to press on, talk later, and stop crying.
The roar of zeal can ignore the whisper of knowledge and experience trying to help and advance. We reject the idea that having others speak into our lives is not only necessary, but ultimately the only way to grow, mature, and bear fruit. Zeal and passion and fervor can roar and attempt to drown out the whisper of patience. When untempered by submission, they can become dangerously boastful. The moment we stop hearing God whisper through other people, the roar must be calmed.
To every roar there must be a whisper. The roar of our life is powerful, compelling, and energizing, and it must be counter-balanced by the whisper of the Spirit which is wise, convicting, and holy.
Today, what is God whispering to you amidst the roar around you?
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