Sometimes I sit back and reminisce about when I was growing up. I remember sitting in my bedroom and hearing my Dad’s or my Mom’s voice call me. There is something special about knowing their voices. I knew from the different inflections in their voice what their calls meant. If it tended to come across in a harsh fashion, I knew I was in trouble. Today, I remember my Mom’s voice when I was sick and I can hear my Dad calling for me to wake up on a Sunday morning. There is something special and very comforting about these memories.

As a mom, Amy, has that voice. She knows how to command the attention of our boys, but she also knows how to soothe them when they are sick and hurting. It is an amazing attribute which I wish I had. I tend to be full throttle loud and commanding all the time. I can be a little softer in tone, but that does not help when you are saying, “Suck it up, buttercup.” Yes, I am definitely a messed up person who needs help. I am so very thankful the Savior runs to my mess.

As I was thinking about this thought I also read today’s Scripture. Psalm 29 says, “The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea. The God of glory thunders. The Lord thunders over the mighty sea. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars; the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf; he makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord strikes with bolts of lightning. The voice of the Lord makes the barren wilderness quake; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare. In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!” That’s a very powerful voice.

One of my many favorite hymns is “How Great Thou Art”. When we sing it, we sing about the worlds, the stars, and the rolling thunder, everything created by His mighty voice. Seven times in Psalm 29 you read about the “voice of the Lord”. David describes power behind every word He speaks. The thunder and the majesty of his voice echoes above the sea, splits the cedars of Lebanon, strikes with bolts of lightning and strips the forest bare. His voice is definitely powerful.

He spoke and the worlds were formed. He spoke and the all the planets aligned in their orbits. He spoke and the seas were created, the rivers began raging and the mountains formed. Yes, there is power in His voice. When He speaks even Satan listens. He has a commanding and controlling voice.

But thunder claps are not the only way He speaks. In the past God spoke directly to people. I imagine when He spoke it was not in a forceful thunderclap because the human probably would have fallen over dead. He spoke in tones of love and care. Can you imagine what it was like when He spoke through Jesus Christ, His Son?

God, through Jesus, spoke in tones of compassion and love. Yes, there were times of turning over the tables, but can you imagine hearing Jesus preach. He was using the very voice of God.

When Jesus said take up your bed and walk, God was speaking. When Jesus said you can now see, God was speaking. When Jesus, with a quaking voice, said, “Lazarus, come forth!” That was God!

Can you even imagine today the voice of God? So powerful it creates the beautiful world we live in, yet so majestic and peaceful, through His Son, people feel at ease. Have you heard His voice today?

There is a story told of an old man and his grandson who were walking down a business street in a downtown district. As they walked along, the grandfather suddenly stopped, turned his head slightly, and tweaked his ear. After a moment he said to his grandson, “Follow me.”

They slowly moved from where they were standing to a small planter box next to a sidewalk café. The planter was filled with various seasonal plants, but as the old man gently pushed back the flowers, behind them revealed a small bird’s nest filled with baby chicks; their chirping almost indistinguishable from the loud sounds of lunchtime and people on the sidewalk.

No one seemed to pay any attention to the old man, his grandson or the little nest, but the grandson was amazed. After watching for a few minutes and then moving away the little boy looked up at his grandfather.

“Grandpa, how did you hear the birds? There is so much noise, so much happening, how could you hear?”

Without saying a word, the old man took several coins from his pocket and tossed them on the ground.

With the tinkling of the coins on the sidewalk it seemed everything came to a stop. People turned around. Diners stopped eating to look their way. Several almost seemed to want to reach down and pick up the dropped coins. Then as quickly as it had happened – everything went back to the way it was.

That’s when the old man spoke, “It’s all in what you are listening for, my child, it’s all in what you are listening for…”

Sometimes we need to stop and hear the voice of God. He does not always use the thunderclap to get our attention. Sometimes it may be a sound, such as a dropping of change. In our busyness would we even be able to hear Him? If not, then we need to stop and listen.

James says in James 1:19, for us to be “quick to listen, slow to speak.” There is a lot God desires to share with us if we would only choose to listen to His voice.

Yes, His voice can change the course of rivers and cause mountains to rise up from the ground, but today are you listening for the whisper. When God asks you, “Can you hear me now?” It’s best we respond as the servant in 1 Samuel 3:10 when he said, “Yes, Lord, your servant is listening.”