I’m sure you’ve heard it.
It may have been a really long time since you heard it, but I’m sure you’ve heard it.
That little voice in your head...
The one that told you not to take the pens home from work that one day...
…not to tell that lie...
…to change the channel...
…to stop flirting with that person...
...to speak up and stop the dirty joke, the gossip, or the racist comment...
...to pray for the woman in the grocery store...
That was God.See, most people think God speaks in a big, booming, thunderous voice like Hollywood portrays in the movies.
But God really speaks in small whispers. When I was in college, I didn’t like to write. College is a great place to be if you don’t like to write.
I had an assignment due for a class that, conveniently, my roommate had had the semester before me.
Do you see where this is going?
I copied part of his assignment from the previous semester without him knowing it. Yes, I know, it's bad.
There I was called
to that university because I was supposed to preach. Aren’t you glad I wasn’t preaching yet?
So, there I was. I had copied. I had cheated. And, man, was I stressed out about it. I couldn’t sleep. I was
miserable.
I knew I had sinned. I woke my roommate up and told him what I had done. Honestly, he didn’t even care.
But I did.
I had the voice on the inside reminding me of what I had done.
You have it too. It’s called your conscience.
Your conscience isn't
a little mini-angel version of you that stands on your shoulder and whispers in your ear.
Hollywood uses the images of a little devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other, but
it’s way more serious than that.
Your conscience is the inner voice of God within you.
It exposes the darkness. It urges you to obey Truth and turn from evil.
The word con-science means “to know with” or “to have knowledge.” One author calls it the hidden part of the human soul which most reflects God, that acts as the moral judge within people’s hearts. The conscience is based on knowledge and functions off the highest standard it knows.
God made you. Your conscience is His imprint. It’s His voice.He’s placed it in each of us. But often, we
silence
it.
We choose to
ignore
the still, small voice.
We choose to still do that thing He tells us not to do, say the thing He told us
not
to say, not speak up when He told us to, not pray for the person
We stuff the voice down, and it gets quieter and easier to ignore.Don't be deceived: “Just once won’t hurt” and "It's not a big deal" are usually sin’s deceptions.
You believe you’re in charge, and that you can stop at anytime. But “just once” can quickly turn into "way too often."
And before you know it, you’re somewhere, and someone, you didn't expect to be.
Like setting out for Italy without a compass or a map and ending up in Iceland, enough “just onces” or "it's not a big deals"—enough silencing your conscience—and you'll end up at a place you never planned to go.
That’s a sobering thought, but it’s meant to positive. Think of what you and God can do together! Don’t silence His voice in you. Thank Him for it, and listen.