Listening to God’s Still Small Voice

I know you’ve seen this many times as we pay close attention to the recommendations by medical professionals: "COVD-19 Prevention: Wash your hands frequently as the virus can only live on your hands for 5-10 minutes. Drink warm water as an effective way to stop all viruses. Try not to drink liquids with ice. Gargling with a simple warm water salt solution is also an effective measure for preventing contraction of viruses. Ensure your mouth and throat are moist, never dry. Take a few sips of water at least every 15 minutes. Drinking water or other liquids will wash the virus down the throat and into the stomach, where stomach acid will kill it. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables."

God sure amuses and blesses me with some of His “aha moments”. Each year, during the Lenten season, I choose the Daniel Fast which is just fruits and vegetables and water. So preparing for this fast, I made a freezer full of vegetable meals as well as have lots of frozen fruits for making protein drinks. I love my coffee, but hot water helps satisfy me. I was already in go-mode before this crisis ever hit. I’ve got the handwashing down, drinking warm water multiple times daily AND I’m eating lots of fruits and veggies. Thank You, Lord, for your still small voice that prepared me for this season. In fact, unlike before, I bought a ginormous pack of toilet paper a couple of weeks ago. Thank you, God, again!

I spoke to two of my friends yesterday. One shared that she felt so strongly, three weeks ago, that she and her husband should close their stock accounts. At first, he didn't agree and even their financial advisor disagreed since the stock market was higher than ever before. But she wouldn’t back down. They closed their accounts. And, another friend said that she and her husband closed theirs five weeks ago. Both have a very tight relationship with God. They know His voice.

We’re sort of quarantined to our homes, our churches’ doors are pretty well closed, except mine has a chapel that stays open for us to go in and pray. I'm going there today. There’s something about that solitude, no phone interference, no outside noise and, oh, the presence of Jesus that is there. I take my journal with me. I hear God’s still small voice and I write those words down. Such peace is found there. Such comfort.

I get it. Since anyone can get COVID-19, everyone can get COVID-19. Those of us who have the antidote, can live without fear. Jesus asks us, “Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If you then are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?” (Luke 12:25–26). Worry provides the sense that we are doing something about our fear, but that’s an illusion. Rather than worry about the future, we should prepare by doing what we can do and trust God with what we cannot.

I understand that the virus is one nine-hundredth the width of a human hair. Our Father measures the universe with the palm of his hand (Isaiah 40:12). He is on the throne of the world. Let’s be sure He is on the throne of our hearts today. Let’s get better acquainted with Him and His still small voice that has the answers for us.

The Power of Preparation

We’ve just completed another NCFCA Speech and Debate Tournament in Dallas. I say “We” because I dig my heels in along with the other parents and community judges who volunteer to judge the debate and speech rounds. I’m always amazed at these young people who are “preparing” for life by being involved in a program that provides such a firm foundation for their future. They’ll take these skills with them into whatever vocation or occupation they pursue in the future. The stage presence, the ability to think-on-their-feet, the mental steadfastness, etc. are just some of the benefits. In some of the debate rounds, it didn’t take long to determine what the outcome of the debate was going to be because it was evident who the most prepared debaters were – they were the ones who had great vocal articulation, confidence, knew their subject matter well and you knew they had studied and PREPARED for this event.

Both Payton and Alexia have done so well this year! They have both already qualified for Regionals, so Alexia didn’t compete this weekend, but Mr. Aggressive Payton is working on more speaker points so he competed again and did so well -- ranked in six different categories. I know, one day, we'll look back on the preparation they've gone through in their speech and debate tournaments. Without a doubt, they are being prepared for that perfect plan God has for them. These times are preparing the soil for the future harvest!

There’s something to be said for PRE (before): Why do we look for the vegetables before we till the soil and prepare it for the seed? It’s the soil, and not the seed, that determines the quality of the harvest!

It would have made no sense for the young shepherd boy, David, to be able to kill a giant with a sling shot. A lion and a bear didn’t look like a Goliath, but they were the perfect instruments of preparation. Seriously, everything is preparation. Every mistake we make is preparation. Every lesson we learn is preparation. Every step of our faith journey is preparation. God uses it all.
One of Payton’s speeches in the category of Original Oratory was “Learning from Adversity”. In it he talked about in his young years when his mother insisted that he practice his piano and those were the years when he’d rather play outside than practice his piano, but his mother would say, “Trust me. One day you’ll be so glad I made you practice.” And Payton said, “Yes, today I am so glad as I teach others to play the piano, and I would never be here today were it not for the times of practice and preparation.

I know God prepared me for the season I am in. Who knew I would be living so on purpose with what I do today….even with these blog posts? Oh, God did – when I was in typing lessons in my high school class; when I became a technical writer for companies that I worked for; when I needed a forum to shout to the mountain tops that “GOD IS FAITHFUL” in the midst of my greatest trials.

The school teacher prepares lessons that will prepare her students for good grades that will help promote them to their next grade and prepare them for life. Most certainly, THE Teacher (our Heavenly Father) knows best about what He is PREPARING for us. When we start seeing our pain as preparation; whatever we’re going through is preparation; whatever is hurting us – is preparation. God is preparing us for what He has prepared for us. It is not failure – it is preparation. Indeed, there is POWER in preparation.