Who Are You Listening To?

Happy February all! It’s the month when we celebrate love and black history, so I hope it’s been good to you! And I pray that this blog post can be good to you as well. Without further ado, here’s the post 🙂

On my campus, there is a research project entitled, The Call My Name Project. It seeks to uncover the lost voices of African Americans at Clemson University. I became a part of this project last year and absolutely loved it! Each February, we do special Black History Month tours and last year I was a site guide- meaning that I had a certain stop I was responsible for telling people it’s history.

Well, this year I had the pleasure of doing it again! I had the exact same spot, meaning that I was relaying the exact same information. However- in rehearsals, I learned that we had a limit on the notecards we could use to help guide as we delivered information.

Upon hearing this, I mentally screamed. I mean, I knew the information- but I couldn’t fathom having less notecards than I had last year. What really got me, though, was that I had already made my notecards- ready for the big day.

So, when it was my time to go up and rehearse, I decided to rely on my old technique. And let me tell you…this technique did not serve me well. There was so much shuffling, stumbling over words, and just utter confusion on my end that I got upset with myself. Why? It’s because I knew the information- but the amount of notecards wasn’t helping me. Instead, they had become a hindrance.

As I took my seat, God whispered to me: “Malaysia, you relying on these notecards is just like how you relied on other people this week.”

And y’all, that truly shook me.

You see, all week long leading into these rehearsals, I had been grappling with a tough situation. I didn’t know the answer and it bugged me a24/7 all day, everyday.

But, instead of calling out to God, I was going to everyone else but Him. I was looking at Google, YouTube, and even people whose counsel I truly respected. However, those people and things are not God.

As I reflected on what God had revealed to me, He led me to 1 Samuel 23, where two of my favorite Bible characters had two differerent responses to a similar situation:

“Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.” Therefore David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” Then David inquired of the Lord again. And the Lord answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.”

1 Samuel 23:1-4, ESV

Our first character is David. He finds himself running away from King Saul and doesn’t know if he should save the city of Keilah or not. And knowing that only God could answer him, David inquires of God.

Now, our second character does the exact opposite:

“Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.”
1 samuel 23:7, ESV

Unlike David, King Saul did not inqure of the Lord. As you just read, King Saul listened to someone random and ran with it as truth. He didn’t stop to see if what he was hearing was right or wrong.

And if I’m being totally honest with you all, I had been acting like King Saul in my own life. As I told you guys earlier, I had been dealing with a sitution and trying to figure out what to do. But- instead of going to God, I went everywhere else but Him.

To be even more transparent- this isn’t a new occurence in my life. God revealed to me that I have a habit of going to other things but Him when I don’t know the answer just yet.

And I know I’m not the only one. For many of you reading this- it’s easy to call up your trusted confident, your boo, or even someone whose counsel you trust. And while God loves for us to have Godly community- He never intends for us to listen to those things first. Instead, God desires that we seek Him first.

“And while God loves for us to have Godly community- He never intends for us to listen to those things first.”

Refering back to the verses above- we should aspire to be like David. Even when someone in his crew was doubting- he did not let those voices scare him. Instead, decided to listen to God’s voice! Now I don’t know about you- but to me that’s faith.

Once God began to show me that I truly had to seek Him- I decided to shut everything down and open my Bible. And let me tell you as soon as I did- the peace of God desended upon me and stayed (Isaiah 26:3). God showed me that only He has the answers I’m seeking, not this world.

But, this can be a real challenge. If you’re anything like me- its easy to get caught up in the many voices of the world because it seems like what they have to say is the ultimate guide on whatever you’re deciding. It can be scary, because when we give those voices too much attention- like Peter we start to sink (Matthew 14).

I mentioned earier that I even saught Godly counsel on the issue that I had been dealing with. The people I reached out to are people I respect, love, and I know they wouldn’t steer me wrong. But even so- they aren’t God. God is God- and it’s only His voice that can soothe us and lead us to the place that He has designed uniquely for us.

This isn’t to say that God can’t use things of the world to speak to us or use the people in our circle to help us, because He most certainly can! But remember, they shouldn’t be our primary source of hearing God’s voice. His Word should always be at the top of our priority list.

That’s my goal right now- to listen for God’s direction. I don’t have the answer to the situation I’m dealing with right now. But what I do know, is that as long as I seek God first, everything else will fall into place.

I encourage you all to do the same. Don’t get caught up in the voices of this world like King Saul. Let’s be like David and choose to seek God’s voice first- before we make any other moves.