On that Voice

A few weeks ago, I was standing in a check out line when I heard a mother in front of me raise her voice at her child.

Yikes.

It is true that the little girl wasn't obeying her: she was pretty much doing everything in her power to go against what her mom said.

Anyway, it wasn't a pretty site.

As I watched the mom finish checking out, it made me wonder why many of us (yep, I said us), resort to that form of um...

communication.  Especially, when we get angry or upset. 

I am most definitely working on this area.  It is very difficult for me: I think I am doing well and then the tone of my voice shoots up.  After my wonderful mother gives me a quiet reminder, I am back to where I started:

Frustrated...again. :)

I have come to realize that I tend to raise my voice because I think that it will either:

• Help my point to be seen and heard.  Not just any seen and heard, but seen and heard. 
• Make a certain person listen to me (read: listen as in obey).
• Because I am angry and upset. 
• Or, I am not happy with the situation and I want to change it (as in subjecting to an authority).

Ouch.

In Proverbs 2:1-3, the Bible tells us when it is proper to raise your voice. 

• "My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,"

So, when can we lift our voices?  Only when calling in prayer to God for wisdom, direction, and understanding.

My problem is that I forget, very often, how I am supposed to properly use my voice.  I become ruled by my emotions, and that filters over into my tone.  So that raises another question: How am I supposed to guard from raising my voice?

1.      Pray that God will make me more aware of my sinful nature so that I can fully glorify Him and ask for His insight. 

2.      Spend quiet time with God.  The closer we become with Christ, the more inclined we are to think like Him.

3.      Remember that I am not the only one I am hurting when I raise my voice.  First of all, I hurt the person across from me (who I am raising my voice too).  Secondly, I am hurting my younger brothers and sister (or maybe children in the future) by showing them that it is fine to raise my voice when I get upset.  

Our voice is a wonderful and powerful gift from God, one that has been used to do amazing things.  But we so often take advantage of this gift, abuse it, and turn it into a weapon.  Uncle Ben was so right in saying that "with great power, comes great responsibility."

There was one more person in my little story besides the mother, her daughter, and myself:

the cashier woman.

This wonderful lady handled the mother's angry, terse remarks with excellent grace.  She quietly asked for the mother's things, gently told her the price, called in to the manager when told that she was wrong, and to top it off--took off a discount for causing the "difficulty."

I just stood and marveled.

After I had finished checking out, I walked out of the store thanking God that He puts little reminders in my life that help me to "stay on track."

I hope and pray that God will make me more aware of my sinful nature so that I will can fully glorify Him, ask for His insight, and remember to keep that voice in check. :)

• "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."-Colossians 4:6

Have a blessed day!

In Him,
Kristin

P.S. For your information the "Uncle Ben" referenced in this post is not Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Banneker, or Benjamin Moore, but is in fact "Uncle Ben" from Spiderman.  Yep, you saw that right.  Uncle Ben said those famous words to Peter Parker while sitting in his car, parked on the side of the street in the first Spiderman movie. :) 

For This Year

I just can't seem to post consistently.  It seems like I drop off the earth for eight months at a time!

Really I just get busy enjoying my life.  Trying to learn new things and live my life for His glory.

It's a pretty hard job actually.  When God says he wants control of everything...He means it!  I find it very difficult to remember to surrender to Him always.  Sin blinds me so easily that I find myself wandering from His words, trying to live me life by my own means.

For Christmas this past year (still getting used to this whole 2012 thing :)), my parents gave me the Godly Woman's Adornment book collection by Lydia Brownback.  I have really enjoyed reading and studying the different character traits these four books expound on: joy, contentment, trust, and purity.  I usually read them as I need them: such as reading Joy and Contentment when I feel like pouting, or Trust when I am not sure of the future :).   I am glad that God has been using these books in my life as a small reminder to always look to Him.   

For example, an expert from Trust:

"If we struggle to trust God, it's because at some level we don't believe He is really good.  If you are trusting in something besides God to keep you safe and to make you happy, you are probably doubting in God's goodness.  Such doubts gain a foothold in our hearts when God doesn't act the way we think he should or the way we expect that He will.  

But God often acts contrary to how we think a good God should act.  The answer we think we need seems so logical and clear to our way of thinking, yet God does not provide it.  That is where faith comes in.  Real faith isn't the belief that God will do a particular thing; real faith is the conviction that God is good, no matter what He does and however He chooses to answer our prayers.  God always has our best in mind, and he works to bring it about, no matter how many look initially to our way of thinking."

If I had to sum up one of the biggest lessons I learned (and am still learning) in the year 2011, it is that of to trust in God.  There have been many experiences this year where I have had to forget my own intentions or ideas, and lean on Him for guidance.   In return, I have received many blessings from the Lord--some of them hidden at that time to my eyes :).  But, I am so glad that God continually perseveres  for the hearts of those children He loves so much. 

I hope this new year brings many blessings to you, and that we all learn how to lean on the Lord. :)

In Him,

Kristin