Remember the teacher’s voice in Charlie Brown?
I think all too often we think the voice of God is just about that clear.
We talked about that His voice gives life. And there is a second aspect of His voice, that is absolutely nothing like the sound effects in the Peanuts cartoon:
His voice doesn’t condemn –
Yeah, yeah. We both memorized Romans 8:1 long ago, right? We can repeat together the words: “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. But do we really live that way? I have to confess I struggle with this.
There is a difference between the voice of conviction and the voice of condemnation.
The voice of conviction simply points out error and asks you to turn around. This is the voice of our God. He is our patient and holy GPS – always seeking to get us back on track, without crewing us out for making a wrong turn. His purpose is to have us walk alongside Him in confidence, nor in fear.
But the evil one has different plans. This voice of condemnation is all about humiliation and ridicule. In fact, Satan’s name in Hebrew literally means “the accuser”. Pretty much sums it up, huh?
Now, ingrained within us is the need to look perfect. So when we embarrass ourselves and our loved ones with pitiful actions, the little voice goes off in our head regarding our stupidity: “There you go again, you idiot. You will never get any better!”
The good news is –
That’s not God. He knows that our spirits are the only truly perfect part of us. And that only if He has set up residence (Hebrews 12:23). He knows that there is nothing within our flesh that can do good and He doesn’t condemn us for the fact (Romans 7:25 – 8:1).
Do you hear?
His voice doesn’t condemn! Our daily lives do not depend on us, but on Him (Romans 9:16). He is in charge of our spiritual lives. So our response is to continually reenact what Christ did while He walked the earth: continually entrust ourselves back to God (1 Peter 2:23).
Did you mess up today? I did. Say you are sorry and tuck back underneath Him.
Were you anxious? I was. Agree with His voice that you were off His path. Simply turn and get back on.
Come on. Let’s you and I walk together in the real time streaming of His forgiveness (Hebrews 10:18). In Him (now matter what we look like), we’re good.