Who Are You Listening To?

The world is full of noise, isn’t it? People and advertisements, images everywhere, all trying to sway you one way or the other. It is almost impossible to go one day without hearing the opinions of someone else. So many thoughts to think, decisions to make. So many ideas and possibilities. The mind can feel so cluttered.

Is it just me, or does it seem to you as if your quiet time alone is the only time your true thoughts can come through?

In the shower, only the sound of running water, no one around. Here is where I can filter all of the day’s thoughts. Here I can empty them into the drain with the water and leave only what I really need to think.

In bed, falling asleep, darkness, silence. Tapping into the parts of the mind that we rarely use except for our dreams. But isn’t here where we really dream?

How can we hear that still small voice if our mind is filled with the voices of everyone else?

Are You Listening?

How can you listen to what God places in your heart if you are too busy listening to the world around you? How can you serve God if you fall prey to what others try to convince you of? The Bible says a man cannot serve two masters.

I Kings 13. Meet the “man of God”.

The “man of God”, as he was referred to, was sent to warn an evil king of his sins. God even performed a miraculous event through him to show the king His power. And the king being so impressed invited this man to the kingdom for dinner.

But God specifically commanded this man not to linger around or to eat or drink anything in this city. He was also told not to leave the same way he came.

This man of God was ready to be obedient and make his way out. But then another man approached him and invited him to dinner.

Again, the man of God could not. He had to obey God’s command.

But the other man persisted, saying he too was a prophet of God. He went on to say an angel of God told him to invite this man to dinner.

So the man of God listened to this prophet and went to dinner with him.

And what happened?

God spoke through the prophet at the dinner, saying the man of God had disobeyed His commands. As a result, this man never made it out of the city. Upon trying to leave, he was attacked by a lion and left dead on the side of the road.

What an ending.

You have to wonder, what was the purpose of a story like that? How is that even fair?

But think again. Didn’t God tell him? Didn’t God give him one simple purpose and command for that city? If this man knew what God told him, then why should he think a prophet overpowers that command? The king hadn’t even overpowered that command!

There Can Only Be One

It doesn’t matter who or what is filling your mind on this earth. You answer to God only.

You cannot satisfy the evil people of this world like that king. And you cannot satisfy the “holy” people in this world like that prophet.

The only One you should worry about satisfying is the One – the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the Creator, Redeemer, and God of all.

Who else is above Him?

Even in Acts, the apostles did not back down to the law that persecuted their beliefs. When captivity and death faced them, they made it clear they would never stop listening to what God told them to do.

When commanded to stop speaking the name of Jesus, their response was, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to Him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

This persecution will never stop, and this world will only get louder. But let this be what fills your mind – God and God only. Do not be swayed by the voices around you. Pray for wisdom and discernment and stand firm in what you know to be true.