With family and friends and all the vehicles of information at our disposal, we have many voices speaking into our ear today.  Unfortunately, some voices may be like those to which Beyonce alludes in her song “Listen”, voices that seek to turn THEIR will for you into your will for you leading you away from the song God has placed in your heart all because they won’t listen to the dreams to which you are trying to give birth because they don’t think YOU or I fit the bill.  Google and check out the rest of the lyrics.

Sometimes we need to be like the stars on The Voice, a TV show where the judges, who are to decide if a person has what it takes to be the next great singer, are not allowed to make their judgment according to the artist’s appearance.  No, the judges must turn their chairs around and face away from the stage before the singer comes out.  The judges are left to decide if the potential new artist has what it takes to become the next singing sensation solely by listening to the voice.  When the judges hear “something” in the voice that’s out of the ordinary, they push their button to acknowledge that this person just might have what it takes to be the next singing star and, at that moment, the judge’s chair turns around and for the  first time the judge actually sees the individual who was singing.  

Likewise, in our own lives, sometimes we need to sit down and turn our chairs away from the stage as people come out not to sing but to speak into our ear.  We need to turn away so that we are not swayed by the speaker’s appearance as he or she may be someone we truly revere and love.  No, we must leave our chairs turned around until we hear The Voice, “something” out of the ordinary, a voice different from all the rest.  Then we push our buttons, our chairs turn around and for the first time we see the individual speaking.

There is a Voice that calls us to our destiny and purpose, a Voice that calls us not because we’re thin enough, pretty enough, a particular gender or a particular race but because before we were placed into our mother’s womb, we were called to be……(you with God fill in the blank). 

We CAN hear that Voice for Jesus declares, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me…John 10:27.” 

So sit down, turn your chair around away from the stage and listen for The Voice.  When you hear The Voice, push the button.  Your chair will turn around and for the first time you just might see the God who calls you, who has plans for you, not to harm you but to give you a hope and a future. 

Listen to The Voice!