Distinct Voice - Devotion for 1/26/09

Distinct voice – Devotion for 1/26/09

Everybody has a distinctive voice. Each one of us has something about our voice that makes it unique: maybe it is the tone, the clarity, or even the subtle nuances of the accent. Some people seem to think that their voice is so distinctive that when they call someone they don’t even have to say who they are (don’t you hate that?). However, to this day, I know that there are certain voices that I recognize every time. Even if it has been months since I had talked to him, I would recognize the voice of my buddy John saying, “What’s going on, Ad-man?” I certainly would recognize the “What up, dawg?” from Jay. I even recognize the voice of my dad as he still calls and tries to crank me. It is because we all have a unique, distinct voice, and if you know someone well enough you will recognize the voice when they call.

This morning in my devotion time I was reading Psalm 29, and many of the verses in the Psalm speak of the voice of God. Some of the attributes of the voice of God, as given by David, are:
• The voice of the Lord is upon the waters
• The voice of the Lord is powerful
• The voice of the Lord is majestic
• The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars
• The voice of the Lord hews out flames of fire
• The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness
• The voice of the Lord makes the deer to calve, and strips the forests bare; and in His temple everything says, “Glory!”

Now that’s what I would call a distinctive voice! So the question I have is this: If God’s voice is so distinctive, how come it is so difficult sometimes to recognize it? If God’s voice is so powerful and majestic, how come it is so difficult sometimes to hear it? I think the answers to these rhetorical questions would differ for each one of us. Some don’t want to hear it; some are striving to hear it, but are listening to the wrong things. We could each have hundreds of different answers to these questions. However, whatever our answers may be, today I want to encourage you to join me in simply trying to listen for that distinctive voice.