“Pay attention to whose voice you are listening to.”

A thought by Ray Johnston (2014-05-13) from his book, The Hope Quotient: Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same. (p.55). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

The key thing to see is that there are so many voices striving to get your attention.  And many of them have the potential to get you off track.  They can discourage you and cause you to lose hope.  Have you found that true?

Ray says, “I once heard a story about an experienced spelunker who invited his friend Danny to explore a cave with him. ‘It’s a little tough to get there,’ he said, ‘but would you like to come?’ Danny, always open for a little adventure, agreed.

“They entered the cavern and the passageway got smaller and smaller until both men had to walk hunched over. Pretty soon they had to get down and crawl. Then, to Danny’s horror, it got even too cramped for that. To get through a small fissure in the rock, they had to lie on their backs, push with their legs, and keep their hands to their sides. The passageway grew even narrower. They could not breathe and move at the same time. When they took a breath, their lungs expanded and filled the tiny space in the cave, causing them to get stuck. So, they had to breathe out, in order to move forward. Breathe in, get stuck, breathe out, push with the legs, move a tiny bit forward. How’s that for claustrophobia? It freaks me out just to tell the story.

“Danny started to lose it. I am going to die in this cave! he thought. I can’t go forward. I can’t go back. I’m stuck!

“At that moment, Danny’s friend called out to him, ‘Danny, this is really important. If you keep listening to those voices in your head— if you let your mind run wild— you will flip out. And if you flip out, you will get stuck in this cave. I want you to listen only to my voice right now. Danny, I have been through this, and I am here right now. I won’t leave you. You can trust me. Danny, you can make it. You just have to keep listening, every moment, to my voice.’

“Danny died in that cave.

“Just kidding!  Actually, he made it all the way through, and the next cavern dazzled him beyond anything he’d ever expected to see.”

Ray then says, “What voice has your attention? Jesus says, ‘Keep listening to My voice. Don’t listen to the voices of doubt and fear that say it’s too late for you, that you should give up hope. You can trust Me. I will not leave you. I am with you always.’”

Is that the voice you needed to hear today?