Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Maria Shares Her Thoughts on "That Voice"

picture found at http://www.heartlight.org

This whole obedience thing is harder than I thought


It requires complete surrender. Surrender of your own thoughts, strength, and energy to God.


Instead, He gives you your thoughts, strength and energy through the sound of His voice. This voice of His is without doubt and uncertainty. It is ever so clear and strong, but yet so very gentle, He leads you with the sweet sound of almost a whisper.


How does one hear a loud shout of directions that can be as peaceful as a whisper? This sound can only come from a Savior.


Until recently, I used to ask others, “How do you know it’s God’s voice, how do we really know?”
When you hear it you know. You can’t possibly allow yourself to hear such a sound unless you have placed your thoughts—your entire life-- out at His feet. What other sound can sound like a father guiding his child with discipline, and have the calm confidence of unveiling grace at the same time?


That’s Him.


That voice that you’ve heard when you were down in the ashes of your life, that pulled you out and dusted you off---then it sounded loud and firm.


And that voice that has guided your decisions when you knew that you knew you were doing what was right—then it was filled with sounds of affection and warmth-like that of a soft hand pulling you.


That’s Him.


Giving in to this voice is directly related to receiving His grace. Choosing to accept His grace.
How does one define the grace of God?


One definition of grace is “the influence or Spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them.” He lives in us, and can only function in the absolute state of grace. It’s who He is, and who we are, as He lives in us.


Can your mind even comprehend such sanctification and complete immersion of how much love it takes to give us this grace always? It’s there for us each and every moment of our lives.


By choosing to receive His grace, we allow His voice to be heard clearer than any other sound we encounter throughout our day. Once you hear His voice, and truly accept t he fact that He has made you worthy of guiding your every thought, act, and decision, you crave the sound of it more and more…


Maria and her family reside in NE Ohio. She and her husband are the parents of two. Their daughter is a person with hemipelegic cerebral palsy. Because of her experiences, Maria provides parent-to-parent support for families involved in her local early intervention program. Her gift for writing has come directly from the Lord since her daughter’s diagnosis. She writes a monthly column entitled, “Special Parents, Special Kids” for the Mahoning Valley Parent magazine in Ohio; and has expanded into Parent magazines in parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. She is also a contributing author at www.mommiesmagazine.com. Maria is very passionate about getting the word out to special parents that they are not alone in their journey of raising their special child; and that they were chosen by God to parent their children. Maria welcomes comments and communication. If you would like to talk to her, please e-mail her. Our e mail address is in our profile.

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