“How long will you hunt for words? Consider, and then we will speak.” Job 18:2
I’ve heard it said that the sweetest sound in the world to the human ear is the sound of their own name. If indeed true, then the second sweetest sound in the world would have to be one’s own voice. Admit it, we like to talk. God gave us a voice, He gave us plenty to say, and that equation equals talking. Research has shown that the average male speaks 7,000 words per day and the average female speaks 20,000. And within those words come how we are known. What words we speak, what inflection we use, the non-verbal cues which are delivered alongside those words, and even the simplest tone of voice can color those thousands of words we distribute to the world around us each day. But this desperate distribution of words commands a question. Out of all the voices we could possibly encounter today, which is truly the most important?
Job chapter 18 sees Bildad once again grab the microphone for his second discourse. And to start it we see him returning the ball across the net in the heated verbal tennis match that has become the book of Job. And the words in which Bildad begins his rebuttal are quite introspective regarding the voices we hear daily and how we react to them. Bildad basically tells Job that he is speaking non-sense and that if he would hurry up and finish his long-winded complaining that he would be able to take the stage and speak some real sense into the subject. Oh, the wayward logic of us waiting on the other person to finish expelling their useless words so that we can finally interject the most important words into the fray. The wayward idea that our voice is the most important and until it is heard, the conversation can never be complete. At times like this, the most difficult thing in the world to admit is that your voice is not the most important.
But when it comes to the most important voice, our human sin nature can cause us to miss the boat altogether. Even in our prayer lives, we do most of the talking. This is what I need, this is how I feel, these are the problems I have, and these are the people that are giving me a hard time. The idea that our voices are the most important ring out not only in how we address our world, but in the way we address Almighty God. So, the questions posits yet once again, what is the most important voice in the world and how exactly should we experience that voice. Job and his friends were so busy analyzing, pondering, and deducing the problem with their own wit and wisdom that up until chapter 18 they never made an effort to stop and listen to the voice of Almighty God. They were so consumed with using their daily allotment of words that they never paused to hear the most important voice in the universe. The very voice that created the waters and the heavens will speak today, if you let Him. The very voice that raised His Son from the dead and defeated the death penalty of sin forever will speak if you are willing to quiet your own voice and create silence for His. Today, when it comes to the world, challenge yourself to be a listener and not a talker. And when it comes to your prayer time with Almighty God, listen to the most important voice the world has ever known. And in that listening will come His words of wisdom, guidance, encouragement and love…words that surpass all understanding.
“The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord is over many waters. the voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is majestic.” Psalm 29:3-4
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