Here I Am: Responding When God Calls Your NameEsimerkki

There are lots of voices and distractions competing for your attention. In a war for your soul, noises blast their agendas to keep your ear for His voice obstructed. If you are eager to pursue what God has called you to, or even looking to figure out what that might be, first cultivate the ability to tune out all the noises but God’s voice. There are external distractions clamoring for your attention and interval voices calling for your ear. Needless to say, there’s a lot to tune out! As I describe the most common noises, isolate the few that you might struggle with the most. And then, began praying today that the Holy Spirit will equip you to tune them out. External Distractions * The World and Our Culture : Wordly distractions have been there since the beginning of time. Our culture provides many distractions and tempts us in many forms. There are three common to our struggles in this world--desire, self-promotion, and comparison. With desire comes the gamut of pride, need for validation, power, money, and lust. Self-promotion compels you to put yourself first. And comparison steals your joy and your purpose by directing your sight onto others. * People : We allow people to significantly speak into and influence our life. There are two common ways we allow this--peer pressure and hurt from others. People will try to convince you to do something contrary to your moral compass or even just ask you to fudge the lines a bit. In addition, when people hurt us sometimes we withdraw and in that isolation, sin or test the boundaries. Be careful how you allow others to influence your life. * The Enemy : The enemy’s goal is to tempt you into sin and his voice is anything contrary to Gods. He will often plant thoughts into your mind that compel you to compromise. Internal Voices * Fear: Whatever your struggle, there is a connection to a deep-seated fear. In fact, because fear is so deeply ingrained into the flesh, it is the root of all sin in your life. There is the fear of failure, of leaving what’s comfortable, of the unknown, and of others. * Doubts: Whether you doubt yourself or God, it’s no small thing. In fact, doubt is a troubling thing that leads to sin whether you doubt yourself or God. * Insecurity: Insecurity is an internal perception that questions your value. When you put stock in your insecurities and give them validity, you are allowing pieces of your potential to be chipped away. Today you learned what you’re facing--the voices distracting you from God’s. However, tomorrow we’re going to take a look at how you can tune into His voice.