A Familiar Voice

It was late into the night during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when the underdogs of the USA men’s swimming 4×100 took to the pool against France and Australia. Dan Hicks was calling the race with a colleague and the hype was already high, as the momentum was building with Michael Phelps on his way to another unprecedented gold medal. Dan, my husband, was sound asleep on the couch as the clock was ticking close to midnight.

The gun fired and the race began.

At one point, the other announcer said, “I just don’t think they can do it, Dan,” (voicing what we were all thinking). France had a sizable lead at this point, the world record already shattered, and it would take a miracle to beat France’s best (you can watch the race here).

As the last stretch was ahead, Dan Hick’s voice will always be etched in my mind as he shouted, “Unbelievable, the end! He’s done it!” Meanwhile, I am literally standing in front of the TV, shouting at it, waking Dan up, feeling just as invested as the team who watched Jason Lezak close in on France, because of the excitement of Dan Hick’s voice. Spoiler alert: USA won the race!

Dan Hicks recently passed away from a sudden illness, at the young age of 64, and I can’t help but remember his voice. Remember the joy and excitement he brought to sporting events. The thing is, I didn’t need to see his face to know it was his voice.

This is what I want Christ’s voice to be in my life.

John 10:27 says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” The thing is, the reason I recognize Dan Hick’s voice is because I have been an avid sports watcher since I was young. His voice soon became recognizable and familiar, the more I watched the sports he commented.

What about us though, and the voice of Jesus? How much time do we spend in God’s Word each day? Each week? How familiar is His voice to us? Do we recognize when Jesus is speaking? Do we know His specific voice to the point that we act upon it? Do we listen to it? Do we hear His excitement and desire to have us as his own? His unconditional love for us? His grace and mercy woven in every word?

How familiar is His voice?

Taking it one step further, when we think about our own voices, what do they portray? What do our voices speak about? What do our voices claim we are devoted to? What we speak about most is what we worship.

Our voices become familiar to those around us. What are our voices preaching? Do our voices preach was Christ did? Would people recognize His voice by what WE say?

Let’s set out to become more familiar with the voice of Christ so that we can follow His lead and be His ambassadors for Him!