Hearing His Voice
There is a new project in my life – one that’s unexpected and sure to be time consuming for at least the next two to three months – and one for which I’ve had no past training or experience.
I’m bottle feeding a three-week old heifer calf. In a world that is seemingly upside down and spinning out of control, the responsibility for this young orphan is giving me a focus other than the nonstop madness of our culture.
Daily, if not sometimes hourly, I’m reminded by some news headline that we live in an incredibly fallen world. For those of us involved politically, especially at the grassroots activist level, there are days when I simply want to ignore reality – or wish I were back during the times of my life when I didn’t pay as much attention to politics.
And God knows how much I needed Him this week with the political news and events that have consumed our nation - all of it bringing me to a point of despair for our country and our children that I never imagined I would experience in my lifetime.
I’m fairly positive it’s why He provided me with this calf - at precisely the time I needed it most.
This poor orphan’s mama had been struggling with weight loss since the calf was born, and the stress of birth and nursing was more than she could bear. Most of the bottle-fed calves we’ve heard about were a result of the cow dying while giving birth, so the bonding between the cow and the calf really never took place which made it so much easier to initiate human contact.
This little one has known her mama’s voice for three weeks – most certainly not mine.
But she’s now forced to learn mine because I’m the one providing the life-sustaining nourishment. As I was gently talking to her today during a feeding, telling her how she would learn to hear my voice and trust me, I heard Him tell me:
“She’s learning to hear your voice the same way you’re continuing to learn to hear Mine. And you know you can trust Me through it all – whatever may come.”
It was so gentle – so peaceful – so comforting. Just as He has always been – whenever I’ve needed him most, even when I was determined to do it my way - and just as He always will be.
All I could think about was Jesus’ words – “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:27-28)
How I desperately needed to hear Him through the noise of chaos of this week - how fitting that He did it through one of His creations.
I need to hear Him instead of the empty promises of politicians – instead of an unelected body of Supreme Court justices who, although thankfully not all, have just redefined the meaning of words in one case, and in another by inserting themselves politically in determining marriage which was defined by the One who is truly Supreme.
Father, help me remember that none of the noise and confusion of this world changes one thing about You – You have ordained the marriage covenant, not those who manipulate our government.
Guide me, Father, in showing grace to those who don’t believe as I do - teach me to disagree in love, not with an attitude or words that destroy and might in some way push others away from You. But keep me anchored in Your unchanging Word so that I don’t falter with the shifting sands of culture or public opinion.
I know without a doubt that God has provided this opportunity to give me perspective and a fresh reminder that He is still sovereign and still in control. There’s not a single man-made law or opinion that shakes Him from His Throne. He knows that in my despair for our nation, what I need is to daily take a break from the chaos, and only God could have lined up the circumstances and timing of this calf’s need for nourishment to take place during my week of despair.
I am still one of His sheep – and He provided this orphaned calf to gently remind me to listen for His voice for my sustenance for today – and for whatever lies ahead.
God is so abundantly good.
Image courtesy of Unsplash.com and the author
