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New Article: Hearing a Different Voice

                In 1960, the Aral Sea was the fourth-largest inland lake in the world.  Located on the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the Aral Sea played host to a fishing industry that supported some 3.5 million people around its shoreline. Then things began to change. 

In 1959, officials in the Soviet Union diverted the two streams that fed the Aral Sea so that they could irrigate cotton fields.  While the cotton grew, the Aral Sea shrank.  Within a few years, the lake began to evaporate and by 2014 most of the former lake bed was a desert.  People moved away.  Lively cities became ghost towns and now the only tourists that visit this once popular area are those who enjoy seeing ecological disasters.

This story interests me because I see a similar process at work in the church.  People start full of excitement.  Their faith is new and wonderful.  However, at some point, they begin to cut themselves off from the source of their joy and their hope begins to fade or evaporate.  Soon, they lose their spiritual vitality and, like the Aral Sea, everything good simply disappears.

However, this does not have to happen.  We can be continually refilled and refreshed if we choose to be.  One of the simplest ways to do that is to dwell on God’s promises.  As Romans 10:17 reminds us “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God”.  Belief, on its own, will not last.  We must continue to read, meditate, and teach God’s promises to ourselves and others.  Daily reminders of scripture, such as an app on your phone that sends you a verse a day, are a great place to start.

In a world that surrounds us with many negative voices, we need to make a conscious effort to stay connected to our hope.  We need to feed the positive parts of our lives by hearing and responding to the voice of Jesus.  Then we will not only remain full, but we will overflow with the life of Christ.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20)

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