Episode 65 - I know a voice - wisdom vs knowledge

Many of us can recognize someones voice , but having an intimate relationship changes how you really KNOW a voice 

Transcript

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This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Hello and welcome to Shine. I'm your host Nicole Florence, and this time we are talking a little bit about knowing a voice. As we continue talking about knowledge versus wisdom, there is the need to discern the difference between knowing someone's voice but truly knowing someone's voice. Let me give you an example. So I uh of course, for many of you, I'm in central Illinois and you know I'm blessed enough that most of my family is here. My parents live, I don't know, maybe a five to seven minute walk from my house. And in the city we live in, I always crack up because there's kind of just this little circle of the grocery store, the local pharmacy, which is Walgreens where we go. And you know, of course, you know, your gas station, maybe a local restaurant. And I kind of call it the loop because that's where you basically run into everybody you know. And there are times where I can be at Walgreens or even at the grocery store and Harvest Market, I'll give them a plug because they're incredible people. Um, but I can be in one row, and one row over, I can literally hear a voice, and I know immediately who it is. Um and it's a lot of times it's my mom. And there is something that is so um special that when you hear a voice of someone who you know in a way that is different from hearing, you know, someone else like, oh, that's my high school teacher, right? Um I recognize that voice, I remember who that is, I have some memories, but it's very kind of I don't know, um, cordial, polite, superficial, yes, I remember. But there is something very different about hearing the voice of a loved one, especially your parents, and and if you're you know blessed to still have them, I think many of you know what I mean. But hearing that voice, even if it's just her talking about, I don't know, pickle jars or she knows a lot of people, so I'm sure you know they're having some conversation. There is something that kind of triggers inside of you that this just isn't an ordinary voice. This is someone who you have had an immense um life experiences with, right? She birthed you, been listening to that voice since I was in her womb. Uh, but also just as we grow up in all those uh journeys through life, the good, the bad, the times when I know I've been ugly, um, when you know you've had to make those phone calls of, hey, today's the day, I think I need to leave my husband, right? And we're ready for you. Just there's something about the level of intimacy in those types of voices that is so different from hearing any other voice. You know, many of us have that still with our parents. Um we have that with our spouse. Um, and if you have children, right, you know the cry of your child uh half a mile away. And if somebody says mom in a crowd, I don't always turn because I know that voice is not my child, that's not my call, right? In the same way, you know, it probably happens for another parent. But I think it's something we have to understand that part of knowing a voice is not just the hearing and the experience, but it's that intimacy and that wisdom of understanding that relationship that is not like any other. And I imagine that is probably how Jesus feels about us. I would imagine, in the way that hearing my mother's voice kind of conjures up that level of intimacy for me, someone who knows me like no other. I imagine when Jesus hears our voice, it's one and the same. And my hope is that when he does hear my voice, and yes, he's been with me through it all, even when I have not been with him, I know that there is that special love and intimacy that he has for me, that no one else on earth has. I know he hears me in a way that no one else can hear me, and probably no one, not even like my mom, right? In the same way, I hope to hear his voice. And I remember when I was younger, I had a lot of trouble with this because they would say, Well, you'll know Jesus when he speaks to you. And I'm like, Well, you know, I really don't know what Jesus' voice sounds like, and you know, I see movies on TV, but there's just actors. Um, I didn't live back then, nobody knows exactly what his voice sounded like. So I had that kind of thought of, well, I've never heard it, so I will not know it when I do, because I don't have that spark of memory and experience. So as we try to gather more wisdom in hearing him, I think it's important for us to understand that his voice is one that comes in many different forms in many different ways. And his voice may come to us through the wind, through the bird song, through a hymn, through praise, through our friends, through our faith community. But what will be different is that it will conjure up a level of deep feeling and love and intimacy and truth in a way that no other voice can. And so I promise you that when you hear it, you will also feel it. And once you do, you will be able to recognize it more and more as you listen, as you take the time to build that intimate relationship with him. And once you hear it and continue to seek it, you will not be able to unhear it. Just in the way that you hear the voices of your loved ones. You know, my grandmother and I were extremely close, and I can still hear her voice in my head and in my heart, even though I don't hear it with my ears. That is the difference between knowing a voice that you hear, and knowing a voice that you hear and feel. I pray that you continue to seek him, that you continue to use your voice, to thank him, praise him, ask him, love him, because he hears you in a way that no one else can. And I also pray that you continue to listen and to hear and know his voice in a way that only you can. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.