The Voices
Growing up is not an easy task. When one is tiny, new born and newly arrived at home, there are no choices and most things are laid out for one with everything necessary being provided. But as one grows and begins the maturation process one begins to have choices. At first the choices are simple, such as: “Shall I wear the red shirt with stripes or the checkered blue one?”; “Shall I play with the ball or the fire truck?”. But as we grow, we are continually faced with more and more complex choices. To make things even more interesting we also have voices talking to us about the choices we have.
The earliest voice we hear is that of our parents. From the time we were in the womb we were used to hearing those voices, especially that of our mother. Not all pregnancies are alike, nor are all women the same – but typically the voice we hear is one of love and eagerness and longing to know us. This voice is comforting, encouraging, inviting us to come and know a whole new world. It is a voice we recognize and react to soon after our emergence into the confusing new world of loud sounds and bright lights. It is the voice that comforts us as we face the confusion around us, often with less than a happy countenance. And then there is our father’s voice. In a well balanced family it is the other voice of comfort that we recognize from our brief stay in the womb. It is the voice that soothed and comforted our mother, thus bringing comfort to us as well. These two voices normally follow us through a great portion of our life. They can serve to guide and give direction – if we learn to listen to them and they are guided by a higher voice.
Peers, friends, colleagues, companions – yet another source of voices of influence in our life. At first, as small “rug bugs” sharing a blanket on the floor, they are voices of competition. They’ll take a toy but at first this doesn’t matter that much. Then we reach the age of egocentricity and they are voices of competition, each one arguing over who the toy belongs too. Thankfully this stage does not (usually) last long and we begin to converse and share thoughts with them. Gradually their voices become stronger in our ears until sometimes they drown out all others. And all too often they are voices that do not direct us down the path of greatest good for our future.
As we grow and continue in the maturation process, all too often we pay heed to these voices, especially when we reach the teen years and the struggle for self identity and for independence from our parents. This struggle is normal and natural because God did not design us to be children forever. He designed us to grow up, mature, leave what has been our home, find a mate and continue the cycle of life by starting new lives within our family which will in turn give new birth to new lives down the pathway of time. But this struggle is difficult because as humans we all too often do not want to allow our children to grow up. We futilely look back and wish they would stay cute and cuddly and listen only to our voice – because we are afraid of the future and do not trust in our Designer and His plans for our offspring. And as children the struggle is difficult because we all too often want to throw of ALL influence of our progenitors, mistaking this for true freedom.
There are many things that complicate this process. Parents who have not known how to be a godly influence can effect us in many ways. They can, through overly controlling us through all stages of our life, lead us to a point in which we are incapable of making our own decisions. Or, by the same spirit, they can drive us to the point of rebellion. Two reactions to the same stimulus. Rare is the individual who can face such a parent and say “I love you. I respect you. But this is my life and I choose to follow God’s direction for it. Thank you for helping me to become the person I am today.” Usually the reaction is one of anger and rebellion and shutting ears to the voices we used to love, or a reaction of confusion and despair, allowing the voices to continue to manage our life and to make us incapable of taking our own decisions. And the voices of our peers and “friends” can seem to be “bright hope” because too often the promise of “freedom” and “individuality” drowns out the small voice of our own conscience telling us “Careful! Watch out!”. Our tendency as humans seems to be one of trusting more the voices of those who are our peers than those of people who have more experience and wisdom than ourselves. This tendency is what got Adam and Eve in trouble – because although God said “Don’t”, the voice said “Do”.
And that brings us to the most important voice. The voice of our Creator – God. He designed us. He loved us before our mother and father knew of our existence. He wants what is best for us and His Voice calls out to us from the beginning. All nature sounds His voice. As we see the precision of the universe, as we marvel at the irreducible complexity of our own cellular structure, His Voice speaks to us of His Wisdom and Love for us. We are indeed “fearfully and wonderfully made”. If we heed His Voice, if we follow His call – He will lead us through paths of blessing and we will know true peace. His Voice calls to us. It can be heard if we but listen for it. Even through the babble and chatter of competing voices, if we listen He will guide us.
It comes down to – what is most important to your life? What do you truly cherish? Do you love your Creator? Do you want His approval? Then listen for His Voice and follow His guidance. He will be your true Guide and Stay – if you allow Him to.
Incidentally, here’s a little something I ran into as I took a break while writing this piece. There’s some interesting things there that also deal with the subject matter of this piece.
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