How Do I Know When I Hear Your Voice?

                “Dear Lord, how do I know when I hear Your voice? I get so many fleeting thoughts that race through my head. I have many unfinished ideas and plans. How do I know which ones come from You and which ones come from me? I guess if I am in tune with You, then all thoughts in my head are from You because You are in me and our hearts are joined. But then what about the times I am not in tune with You? Will I recognize when I am not in tune? Those feelings of doubt, anxiety, fear, restlessness – those are all clues of when I am not in tune with You. So when I am at peace, when I feel joy, when I just want to throw up my arms to You, those are the times I need to listen to the thoughts in my head.

                “But there are so many things I want to do for You. Maybe that is just me busying myself with things like a hamster building a nest in a cage. Hamsters move things around and around but don’t seem to be creating more than a big pile. It’s hard for me to just “be.”

“You told me to be patient and to let us walk together. I need to remember Your hand on my shoulder, even if it just means to sit still and watch everything around us. Help me sit still to hear Your gentle voice as it whispers wisdom and love in my ear. Then I will know I hear Your voice and not mine.”