Are you being driven or led this week? What does the voice sound like that is compelling you to move forward? How would you characterize it?
Quiet or Loud?
Polite or Forceful?
Stress-relieving or stress-inducing?
Calm or frantic?
Loving or Shaming?
Direct or confusing and scattered?
Peaceful or Insatiable?
How you answer that question gives you great insight into what or who is behind your motivation. God is a still, quiet voice; the world screams and tells us to MOVE! Jesus is a gentleman who stands at the door and knocks; the world forces its ideals and criticisms upon us. God ensures us he is in control of everything so there is no need to stress; the world keeps reminding us we have one more thing to do and we better get it done now. Jesus is called our Prince of Peace and thus brings calm with him wherever he is; the world is always in a frenetic hurry. God is love and speaks lovingly; the world shames us for not having it all together. God is orderly and has a clear plan for our lives; the world is fickle and its rules and parameters are ever-changing. God guides us peacefully and celebrates our small steps and victories; the world and its demands on us are insatiable.
Who are you listening to today?
If you're not quite sure, take stock of your emotional condition right now. If you're weary, empty, stressed, anxious or low, could it be you're being driven by some voice that was never meant to guide you? Is it possible you're listening to the wrong voice and placing expectations on yourself God never intended for you? We may be listening to a parent's voice inside our head telling us we need to be good or succeed or perform or get it right. Maybe it's an ex's voice telling us we're not enough: attractive enough, sexy enough, interesting enough, smart enough. It could be a boss's voice booming our incompetence. It could even be our own voice deceptively telling us we need to control, fix and manage all our people's feelings. Or maybe it's a voice we've listened to for so long we don't even know where it came from. It's simply become white noise driving everything we do: fear or ambition or laziness or insecurity.
Who are you listening to today?
You were never meant to be relentlessly driven. You were meant to be lovingly led.
"And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail." Isa. 58:11
"The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name." Psalm 23: 1-3
Sounds a lot better than being bullied into submission doesn't it? There is freedom and rest in shutting down every other voice but God's. Peace flows like a fountain when we refuse to be shoved around by all the Should Voices and resolve to let ourselves be led by the Shepherd's Voice. That one choice makes all the difference between living a life of striving, discontent and exhaustion or a life of peace, security and rest. The choice is in your hands.
Who are you listening to today?