Are We Listening To The Wrong Voices?

What is the scariest movie you’ve ever seen? 

• “The Ring”
• “The Exorcist”
• “The Witch”

For me it was…The Jungle Book

I know, I know, it was a Disney cartoon with a cute boy named Mowgii, a comical bear named Baloo and a protective panther named Bagheera…

…however it was the snake, Kaa, that absolutely freaked me out, so much so I can clearly remember leaping out of my seat into my dad’s lap, screaming like a banshee and asking him to take me home. 

It was the scene when Kaa was singing to Mowgii, “Trust In Me.”  (If you haven’t seen the movie – it’s terrifying!)

As Kaa was singing the song he was hypnotizing Mowgii with the intention of crushing and then eating him. 

I finally found the courage to look back at the movie screen and Kaa was just about to go in for the kill – and I screamed, “Don’t listen Mowgii, don’t listen – he’s going to eat you” (I think I might have embarrassed my mom and dad just a tad!) 

Nearly 40 years later I still remember that scene so clearly.  (And – when I showed that movie to my daughter Charisse I literally left the room when that scene came on as it still freaks me out.) 

However, as I sit here and reflect on that scene in particular – it is a pretty sobering reminder that if we listen to the wrong voices in our lives it can leave us paralyzed, perplexed and eventually lead to life being completely crushed out of us. 

Unfortunately – all of us have listened to the wrong voices at times; however, as we learn to silence the skepticism of negativity that barrages our minds and focus on the WORD that brings life, we really can accomplish “the impossible!” 

Take one of the most familiar stories in the Bible – David and Goliath. 

David had been anointed king by Samuel in I Samuel 16.  He knew God had called and chosen him for greater things that he was currently experiencing. 

And yet I believe his biggest battle was not with the giant – but with the voices that came against him. 

The first voice he had to overcome was the voice of accusation. 

He went to the battle line, heard Goliath mock God and the army of Israel and saw the Israelite soldiers run in fear. 

While some people were freaking out – David was finding out that the king would reward the man who killed Goliath.  When he began to ask about this his oldest brother said in I Samuel 17:28

When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”

No doubt Eliab was angry he had not been anointed king (after all, he was the oldest).  And so we see him accusing David of being conceited, wicked and opportunistic.  (Something that was way more likely true of him than it was of David.) 

Had David given in to the voice of accusation, he would have never stepped into his calling. 

If we are not careful we can allow the voice of accusation to rob us of our potential, the voices telling us what we did is who we are, the voices that tell us lies about ourselves—lies we hear so often we actually begin to believe. 

However, David did not allow the voice of accusation to rob him of stepping towards the destination God had for him. 

Which leads to the second voice – the voice of discouragement. 

When Saul, the king of Israel at the time, heard David was asking questions he sent for him.  When he saw David and realized he was just a teenage boy he said in I Samuel 17:33

Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

David had a vision of doing the “impossible,” killing the giant and setting Israel free from the enemy.  And yet when he gets in front of the king he is told, “you can’t do it!” 

When you have a vision to accomplish something significant you will always encounter people who tell you why “it” can’t be done—and even more specifically, why you can’t do “it!” 

However, notice that the person telling David he could not do something great was actually living in fear, paralyzed and unwilling to do what needed to be done.  (After all, he was the king, if anyone should have been willing to fight Goliath it should have been him!) 

Never allow anyone who has never accomplished anything significant to talk you out of what you know God has spoken into you. 

Often times they will disguise their disbelief in you out of “concern,” when it actuality it is most often their personal insecurity. 

The last voice David had to overcome in his epic encounter was the voice of fear.  As he was walking towards Goliath to face him the giant said…

I Samuel 17:43-44

43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”

The enemy always speaks in worse case scenarios.

Pause for just a second – what Goliath said he was going to do to David was absolutely terrifying.  No one on the planet wants to be killed and then fed to animals.  What a horrible way to die. 

And if David had given in to the voice of the enemy he would have either retreated back to a life that was safe and predictable – or even worse, let his guard down and been killed. 

Yet not even the giant who was spewing out venomous verbal assaults could stop David, because the calling in his heart was greater than the giant in front of him. 

Pause – God has a calling on our lives, a plan for us to have an amazing future (see Jeremiah 29:11) – however, if we listen to the voice of the enemy we will never step into our destiny. 

David chose, in spite of all of the voices coming at him throughout this story, to choose to believe the calling God had placed on his life, which allowed him to overcome the voices of accusation, discouragement and fear. 

And because of this—he went on to accomplish far greater things that he could have ever imagined. 

And if David can do it – we can too!  The calling on our lives is just as real and just as significant as the calling on David’s – may we step forward in confidence, knowing that the “impossible” is all in a day’s work for the Lord.