Exodus 20:20   And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.  (KJV)

I admit I enjoy the NBC show The Voice with the performers talent being showcased initially only by the sound of their voices, not how they appear on stage.  Some voices boom, some rasp, some are mellow, some soulful, others are in need for further development and get the dreaded zero turn from the four judges.  Then the judges all encourage the contestant to continue to hone their instrument (their voice) and come back and try again!!  I love the positive feedback of this talent show.

Twenty eight words from Scripture.  One verse.  The word fear is used twice with two different meanings.  The first is the fear that makes us tremble.    The second is the reverent and awed fear of the LORD.  

God makes His Word known.  He gave the Law (Ten Commandments) to show what is right in HIS eyes:  How to relate to Him and how to relate to our fellow-man.  He said to obey would bring blessings and to disobey would have consequences (cursings).  The consequences of both obedience and disobedience are mostly natural but our choice to disobey separates us from Holy God.  Remember Adam and Eve in the Garden?  They went from walking with God in the Garden to being banished from the Garden.  Have you ever told a child to “Get out of my sight” because to remain in sight was for them to be in harm’s way?  Exactly!

The Israelites had heard the voice of God and it scared them to the point that they did not want to hear it again!  Like a little child hiding from the boom of a thunderclap.   They said, “ just talk to Moses and then we will listen to him.”   My first reaction to this is you have got to be kidding me!  What I would give to actually hear God with my ears and not just have the “still small voice” in my head. (I Kings 19:11-18)  I think it would be soooo much better.  But as I really give this some attention I realize THE VOICE (God’s) is probably very intimidating.  My Daddy had a voice like that.  If he said, “Jump,”  I was asking, “How high.”  He meant business and he did not ask for obedience twice. I NEVER doubted that he loved me, I knew where my boundaries lay, and I knew he would come to my rescue if I was in trouble, but his voice demanded attention..  

We are no different than the Israelites.  We rather show up at church and listen to a dynamic preacher instead of spending time ALONE with God and His Word and staying until we have heard the voice of God Himself.  It is hard to hear from God.  His Word is sharper than any two-edged sword. (Hebrews 4:12) The mirror His Word holds up before us does not lie.  When I look into it, I see myself as I really am:  On a  really good day I might reflect the silhouette of Jesus, on an average day,  me is all I see, but on far too many days I recoil at the reflection of the enemy-the one we caricature as a man dressed in a red suit with horns, a pitchfork, and a tail that looks like a limp arrow whose poisoned tip is known to be deadly.  Whose reflection do you see in your mirror?  

As I read His law, I see I have broken ALL His laws either in fullness or in intention.  The law is to prove us, not to God, for He knows us inside out, but, to prove me to myself.  For then and only then will I seek His salvation.  The Law is not meant to be a weight tied to our ankles while we frantically try to keep our noses above the water.  The Law is a weight meant to reveal  our weaknesses.  When we accept our weaknesses, we are more likely to look to the ONE who can rescue, the ONE who can train, and the ONE who can change WHO we see in the mirror.  

Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.  Psalm 42:7  (NASV)

I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me.  Psalm 69:2

Be not afraid of THE VOICE.  It is the voice of a loving heavenly Father.  Seek to hear His voice not through a spokesperson but personally.  He desires a relationship with His children.  He corrects whom He loves.  (Proverbs 3:12, Hebrews 12:6, Revelation 3:19)  Listen up! You don’t need a Moses to hear for you.  

Blessings for your day,

Yvonne