Thoughts on life's experiences and God's nature by Robby Hyche…

Parenting fascinates me.  We work very hard to bring children into this world and we do all we can to bind them to ourselves.  We take them on trips – making dozens of pictures as we go – so that we can remember the moment.  We sit and read to them (the same books over and over) and they love it.  We take them to ballgames and carnivals so that they’ll like what we like.  We dress them in Kentucky Blue or Crimson and White.  Some more desperate folks even put them in drab orange.  The bottom-line is that we want our heart to be their heart.  We want to place a piece of ourselves into them.

Evolutionists blame this phenomenon on primal urges related to DNA.  They would say that we do this because we want to spread our gene pool across the “herd.”  Whatever.  I think the urge is actually more basic than that.  This desire to parent children and give them our mind comes from Our Father who is in heaven.  He desires to place His heart into ours.

But as you know the job with parenting does not stop with simply becoming a parent.  The parenting process never ends but from the time we begin parenting we are constantly trying to work ourselves out of a job.  Usually parents endeavor to make their children more independent so they can take care of themselves.  So we must constantly remind them of little things and big things. 

Growing up is tough!  Think about how much we must remember: brush your teeth, comb your hair, make up your bed, go to work, wash your clothes, save money, make a budget, and on and on.  I think that’s why many times I hear myself saying the same things to my kids that my parents said to me.  My parents are the voices inside my head.  I hope the voice my children remember of me is a good one.

God’s work in parenting us is much the same way.  Jesus tells his disciples in John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”  God knows us.  If you remember nothing else, get it inside your head that God knows you.  Now listen to His Voice. 

When at a playground or event, if I hear a child that sounds like one of my children, my ears immediately perk up.  I will instinctively turn toward that little voice.  If I hear “Dad” or “Daddy,” I can’t help but look to see if it’s my child.  Once a Dad, always a Dad.  God is the same as us in this way, but even more so.  He cannot help but listen to you when you call His name.

 He listens to you.  He talks to you.  Do you know his voice when he calls?  There are many voices competing for your attention. Don’t be drawn in by them.  There is one Voice inside your head that you need to listen to and its God’s.

Sometimes in life you will be going down a road straining to hear that Voice but there is so much noise in your life it seems impossible to hear what the Voice is saying.  Financial trouble, divorce, wayward children, family problems, or physical pain are shouting at you.  They want your attention; they demand your attention.  Where is God’s Voice in this? 

Keep listening.  Sometimes He will not tell you exactly what to do because He wants you to trust Him.  He wants you to decide what voice you will hear and obey.  These other voices of Fear and Doubt will speak softly but repeatedly to you, “You can’t do it.  You’re not good enough for God.  You don’t need this marriage.  You can’t give any more money to that church.  You can’t tell your friend about God because you’re too big a sinner.  The Bible is not true.  You need to go to bed with that woman.  There is nothing but problems for you in this life so just end it now before you experience any more pain.”  Do you hear those voices?  Sure you do.

But there is another Voice.  It is nothing more than a whisper.  He speaks to you softly and tenderly.  “This is the way: walk in it.”  And then you know which way to go. 

More often, I want to see God.  I want Him to prepare a smooth path for me in front of my eyes where I can see where I am going.  But it seems to me that most of the time the path is dark, the road is rough, and I can’t see God anywhere!  That may be by His design.  He may want us to listen to Him but not see Him.

God requires faith.  He requires that we walk and listen to Him.   Isaiah recorded it like this in Isaiah 30:21, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

God is represented in this passage as a voice behind you.  He was not out in front blazing the trail in a pillar of fire.  He was not splitting mountains wide-open or parting seas.  He was the Voice behind you.  We cannot run too fast or we’ll get too far ahead of Him, nor can we stop walking.  Keep your eyes ahead and your ears open to God.

 Whose Voice do you hear?

As usual, I am struck with my inconsistencies in Christian living.  I can read and write and teach and blog about all these super-spiritual things, but of course living everything that I say on a daily basis is sometimes very hard.  I am sure that God is not surprised – nor even people I know – but my pride leads me to believe that I should be better than I am.  In fact, my pride many times makes me think that I am better than I am and that these momentary lapses in judgement are just that.  But in fact, I am a person who is in desperate need of the Cross.  Not just for what it means in terms of redemption but what it was intended to do in the first place – to punish the guilty.  I think I tend to forget that aspect of the cross.  It is an ancient symbol of corporate, criminal punishment and it is ultimate symbol of my need.  It is an ironic thing to know that you need punishment and must come to the cross, but that the punishment has been accepted by Jesus.  However, we still have to come to the cross and admit we need it or else the redemption that was bought there on it will not be there for us.

I am so grateful for that redemption.  Perhaps it will help me with my inconsistencies.