where is my voice?

Ok, this next confession will age me (which is ok...46 is the new 26..no really it is) but for those that are country music fans, you will remember "the voice" Vern Gosdin, for those that aren't country music fans and you are saying "Who?" that's alright read on....This guy had a few hits that come to mind. "Set em up Joe" and my personal favorite of Vern's is "Chiseled in Stone"

Enough of memory lane, another cool thing we do with our voice, is when we loose it. Allergy season has hit middle Tennessee which means crazy stuff flying in the air causing noses to run like faucets or set up like someone has poured concrete in your nose while you were snoozing. My wife, Debby, and son, Michael, battle this year round. I kinda like it when Debby's voice gets a little raspy from the allergies hahaha. I like the Barry White voice that is created after a MTSU game, where we have been cheering our guts out for the big Blue on a Saturday afternoon and that Sunday morning after the early squeaks and sqwaks, the voice turns into "you'll never find another love like..."

But what has happened when we feel that we have lost our voice? I don't mean due to the aforementioned circumstances, but when we feel no one is listening. What has happened to us, when we ignore or we stop expressing what we think, when we stop expressing what we believe, when we stop sharing our emotional state with each other. Are we really that sensitive? Or have we become that fearful of each other?

Could it be a bit of both and some other ingredients? Let's take a look together. Think of the place you worship and your spouse. Supposed to (southern term)be the safest place for us to share and express our troubles, supposed to be a safe place we can express our thoughts, our beliefs, our concerns, our passions, our dreams, our goals, our desires, our wants, our successes, our failures, our celebrations, our triumphs, our EVERYTHING. Yet what we experience, is that the place of worship and/or our spouses is where we lose our voice first. We cover up.

We have allowed something major to happen to our relationship in both arenas when we dare not mention where we are, or we don't dare mention a different opinion, in fear that the person (spouse, fellow church member) in front of us will not agree or listen to our position, or thought. But then, when we do share, our spouse or fellow family of faith member attempts to discuss/argue away your/my position. I find it funny, that when the person I am speaking with desires for me to accept/listen their point of view, but when an alternative is offered it is sometimes scoffed at.....hey wait a minute....i didn't scoff......i did? my turning away while you were talking....oh no no no...I was, I was tying my shoe, ...yea....what? what deep sighs? what do you mean my eyebrows went to the top of my head? uh I...

ok ok i scoffed! hahaha

God accepted Moses voice. Look at Exodus we remember this scene from our days of watching the Ten Commandments with Charleston Heston on the movie of the week, with the rabbit ear antennas and my brother getting the aluminum foil. Chapter 3 Moses hears a voice (the real voice) coming from a bush, oh by the way the bush is burning. (Love the way God communicates with us). God is calling for Moses. You with me now. Aluminum foil on the antenna, good reception? Good! let's see what happens together.

Moses responds in Exodus 3:4 NLT When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, "Moses, Moses"
"Here i am!" Moses replied.

God then shares with Moses that He has heard His people groaning. God goes on to give specific instructions and words to Moses that Moses is to relay to God's people in order to lead them out of slavery and into the promised land. Moses protests (amazing i know, we would never do that would we,....yea right, this is for another post) Exodus 4:1 But Moses protested again, "what if they won't believe me or listen to me? What if they say "The Lord never appeared to you"? God does what God does and equips. God gives Moses various signs that He will utilize through Moses in order to lead the people out of slavery. So we remember through our reading that God hardened Pharaoh's heart and would not let the people go.

God continues to send Moses back in to Pharaoh, same results, Pharaoh says no. Chapter 6 we read some words from Moses that we "feel". Verse 12 But Lord! Moses objected. "My own people won't listen to me anymore......

You can almost sense the confidence leave the room with this statement, yet God urges Moses on through his own fears and Moses goes back, and goes back and goes back. Well you know the rest of the story.

What's the rest of your story? Regain your voice folks with yourself and each other through the resurrection power of Jesus Christ! Believe in the leading of the Spirit (the Voice of God), share this with your spouse, communicate with each other, express to each other your EVERYTHING. Let your voice be heard with Ephesians 5:21 as your backdrop Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ