Day 2785 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Isaiah 30:21 NIV

The truth is a whisper that doesn't need to be loud to be powerful, to seem powerful. It has a solid, unmovable, undeniable foundation, and therefore doesn't need to rely on volume to cover any kind of inadequacy. Because the truth of God's Word is a strong tower, a refuge for the lost and weary, a reliable friend that simply will not budge, it can and should be used as the roadmap that it is.

The problem is that all our lives we've looked to what we thought was powerful. We looked to the lies that spoke the loudest. We looked to the desires in our hearts that grabbed our attention and refused to relent until we caved to the pressure to fulfill our every goal and dream and ideal. We've listened to the lies of sin for so long that the whisper of the truth has been forgotten as it's been buried underneath all of the smoke and mirrors that we've blindly placed our faith in all this time.

We've been allowing sin to make our choices for us for so long that we may not even realize that we're lost in what is only an illusion of control and freedom. And we likely don't realize it because that freedom we think we have is simply too enjoyable. It's too much fun. There seems to be no cost or consequence or any kind of downside whatsoever to the lives we've lived and the choices made within, and so we just keep going. We keep following that path never once stopping to consider what's actually happening and where it is that we're actually going.

We never stop to question if it's all actually too good to be true. We just buy those lies that continue to speak so loudly and assume that they're not leading us astray.

That's the power of lies, and that's why they’re the devil’s chosen weapon against us in this battle for our souls. Because they're powerful. They hit us right where we're vulnerable. They tell us exactly what we want to hear. They offer us everything we want to have. They promise to lead us anywhere we want to go. And when you're offered everything you want, who's going to stop and question anything? Who's going to assume that it is too good to be true? Who is going to deny themselves so brazenly as to reject the fulfillment of their every desire opting instead for a path of self-control and righteous restraint?

After all, like I said at the open of today's message, the truth is a whisper. And that makes it all too easy to ignore or forget or throw out of the way. That tiny voice inside telling us that something is off is entirely easy to drown out with all the lies that tell us that it's all okay. So when we're offered the choice between a wide and simple and easy and fulfilling path or one that is far more limited and controlled and filled with expectations of righteousness, it's all but natural to pick the option that gives us what we want, even if it we know deep down that it has nothing we need.

What makes this journey so difficult is that we're so easily distracted. We see something shiny and we wonder why it glitters so brightly. And we turn toward it in order to see what it is that we're missing. But along the way, we catch sight of something else in another direction and so we turn toward it because we think it'll be even better than the other thing we were chasing. And we just keep bouncing back and forth between all the things that catch our eye and lure our hearts to believing that they'll bring us the joy and satisfaction that everything else before has failed to offer.

And all along the way, that roadmap we’ve been offered just fades into the mist. We forget that we’ve been given a path that leads to a promise that cannot fail and will not disappoint. Instead, we wake up one day only to find that we’re so lost we don’t know which way is up. We discover that we made so many foolish decisions and stupid choices based on all the wrong priorities that we no longer even know what's right or what's true. We realize that the voice inside has been lost behind all the things that stole our heart's attention.

But just because we've lived for however long listening to all these lies, that doesn't mean that small voice ever left. It just got hidden. It was covered up. It was locked away so that it didn't get in the way of our attempt to find our own way to the life we thought we wanted, the life that we were just certain would make us happy. But that voice is still there. It's still just as powerful and true and reliable and solid as it ever was. And it’s still the map that can lead us back to where we truly need to be.

Thankfully, that's the promise of our faith. God has never given up on us. He has never taken that whisper of His truth from our hearts. No, He doesn't make us listen to it. He gives us the freewill to ignore it. And that's something that all of us have done. But still, even though we have left Him and forsaken Him and chosen a million other paths that only led away from Him, the truth of His Word has remained steady and constant. He will never leave us nor forsake us.

Friends, all these lies that have spoken so loudly all these years have one thing in common. They're hollow. They're empty. They've proven entirely unable to fulfill their promises. They've all done nothing but leave us wandering in this wasteland looking for an oasis that simply isn't here. So it's up to us to choose just how long we continue to listen to them.

That's the choice offered us in this faith. To turn off the path that we know deep down leads to nothing and take Christ up on His promise to be the Way that leads to life. To learn our lesson and humble our hearts and turn our ears back to listening to that whisper deep inside telling us which way to go to find something true. To accept the fact that sin has nothing to offer us, and that no matter how great those lies may sound, they simply cannot be true because the just aren't God's truth.

Friends, we've been talking about prudence. Being careful. Paying attention to our every step to ensure that they're leading us in the right direction. But for most of our lives, that's just something we've failed to do. We've chosen instead to listen to the lies. We've chosen to pay attention to what was loudest. We've chosen to ignore God because we know His path is built on self-denial rather than selfish desires. Yet, in all our racing after all these empty promises, all we've actually found is a life of disappointment and frustration, nothing anywhere close to what we thought they would bring.

How long will we continue to do everything we can to ignore that small voice? How long will we live this life as if it's some game where making mistakes carries no cost? How long can we keep taking every path other than the one following Christ and honestly think that we'll find something worth finding?

Like it or not, we've got one shot at this. And considering the fact that we just don't know when our shot is over, it's probably wise to stop listening to all the lies and set our feet upon the path that doesn't end when our lives here are done. He will show us the way. In fact, He sent the Way to find us and lead us home. We may have wandered, may have wound up lost, may not know where to turn or what to do. He does.

This is the way; walk in it. We have a map friends. We have footprints to follow. He has given us a way through the wilderness in the form of a cross and streams in the wasteland found only in the Bible. It’s time for us to make sure our feet are following them, because we’ve spent far too long following everything else only to find everything nobody really wants.

#LeaveNoSoulUntold