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Come here and listen
to me! I'll pour out the spirit
of wisdom upon you and make you
wise. Proverbs 1:23 (NLT) the subject for today
is: Hearing the
coach's voice
By Melissa Taylor |
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Dear
Friends, I was recently attending a
soccer game of my eight year old son, Hayden. He prefers to play
offense, in hopes of scoring a goal, but on this particular day, his coach
had him playing defense for the majority of the game. His coach had
recognized that even though Hayden was good at playing offense, he was
even better defending the goal as a defensive
player.
The coach was beginning to
get impatient and finally said, "Come
on Hayden! Listen to me!" I noticed the look of frustration on
my son's face. He looked as if he were about to cry. When the game ended,
I asked Hayden what was wrong. He simply replied, "I couldn't make up my mind who to listen
to! I couldn't tell which one was the coach's voice."
This situation provided me
with two important lessons one for my son and one for me.
·
For my son,
I explained that in order to discern the coach's voice, he needed to stop,
be still, and look at his coach. I encouraged him to listen to that voice only and
learn to recognize it so he
could always hear it above the rest. And then, the most important part, to
obey his coach's words. Even though all the others meant well, it was his
coach that he needed to listen to and obey. Then he would be a wiser and
better soccer player. ·
My lesson
was much like my son’s but with eternal implication. How often am I guilty
of not listening to my Coach's voice? In the book of Proverbs, God
says "Come here and listen to me! I'll
pour out the spirit of wisdom upon you and make you
wise." So often I get busy... too
busy to stop and "come here and
listen" to the voice of my Coach, my
God, whose voice is the only one that matters. Just like Hayden, sometimes
when I do not slow down, I hear many voices. Friends, family, books,
television, and others mean well but can never take the place of He who is
in authority of me. In Hebrews 2:1, we are told to listen very carefully
to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. In order
to listen very carefully to anyone, I must first silence everything else
around me. Then and only then can I determine the one and only voice of my
Coach. This situation, an
ordinary soccer game, proved to be such an important life lesson for both
me and Hayden. I shared the lesson I had learned with my son. I confessed
that I had been way too busy and that God was calling me to slow down so
that I could hear His voice. I also told Hayden that the next step was for
me to demonstrate the truth I had learned by actually obeying God. I
committed to guarding my quiet time with the Lord, reading and obeying His
Word, and being still enough to hear what He had to say. A story from the
Old Testament came to mind and drove this truth
home. In the book of Deuteronomy
Moses is recounting the Ten Commandments for all of the Israelites. He
needed their attention, so he "summoned
them" (NIV), he "called all of the people of
Deuteronomy five begins
with Moses saying, "Listen carefully to all the laws
and regulations that I am giving you today. Learn them and be sure to obey
them!" Listen,
learn and obey. Just as Hayden's soccer
coach called him to listen, learn and obey, Moses called the Israelites to
do the same. And our Lord is calling us all to an obedience that always
begins with hearing the Coach's voice and culminates in wisdom.
"Come here and listen to me! I'll
pour out my spirit of wisdom upon you and make you
wise." Prayer:
Dear Lord, help me to
guard my time and focus on what You are saying to me. Slow me down when I
get too busy to hear Your voice. I trust You to give me the wisdom I need
in this game of life. Help me to listen, learn and obey Your Word. In
Jesus' Name, Amen. Application: ·
Recount the
order of your daily schedule. o
Are you
taking time to hear the voice of the Almighty Coach? o
Evaluate how
well you are listening, learning, and obeying His
voice. ·
What life
lessons from God can you teach your child(ren)
today? o
Take the
time to nurture your children by sharing daily what God is doing in your
life and theirs. ·
Wisdom is
knowledge in action. o
Write down
one way that you can put into action something you know that God wants you
to do. o
Then be
obedient and do it! Reflection
Points: ·
Am I
spending time with God so I can be sure it is His
voice that I am hearing? ·
Do I seek
advice from friends, family, or popular
personalities before going to my
Heavenly Father? ·
Is God
calling me to action in a certain area? ·
Am I
responding in obedience? ·
Are my
children learning how to determine the voice of God? o
Am I taking
the time to teach them? o
Am I showing
them by doing this in my own life? Verses: ·
Come here and listen to
me! I'll pour out the spirit of wisdom upon you and make you
wise. (Prov.1:23,
NLT) ·
So we must listen very
carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from
it. (Hebr.2:1,
NLT) ·
Moses called
all the people of ·
Hear O ·
Anyone who is willing
to hear should listen and understand.
(Mark 4:9,
NLT) ·
But the one who hears
my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a
house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck
that house, it collapsed and its destruction was
complete. (Luke 6:49,
NIV) |
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The game was very close
and our team was down by one. Everyone was excited and many of the parents
were a little vocal to say the least. I noticed the coach shouting to
Hayden, 
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