Whose Voice Will You Believe?

This article was written by Victoria Osteen and published by Joel Osteen

 

You may have heard the tale about a tiny little mouse and a huge elephant that went for a walk one day. They admired the flowers and birds all along the way. Soon they came to a rickety old cable bridge that crossed a brook. As they crossed the bridge, it trembled and shook and swayed under the weight of the elephant. “Wow,” squeaked the mouse when they were on the other side of the stream, “didn’t we make that bridge shake!”

The little mouse reminds me a bit of the biblical character Gideon. One day an angel of the Lord came to Gideon and said, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of fearless courage. He wants you to lead the Israelites in defeating the Midianites’ (Judges 6:12). But Gideon replied, “Wait a minute! How am I going to do that? My clan is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” There’s such a contrast between the voice of Gideon and the voice of God. Gideon saw himself as weak and fearful and tried to drown out God’s voice, but that didn’t change God’s perspective. God saw him as a valiant champion. The good news is that Gideon finally took hold of the mighty strength of God’s voice and went out and won an amazing victory.

Over the years I’ve come to believe that inside every one of us the voice of God is saying, “You are made in My image. You are valuable, you are exceptional, and you are important in this life.” But sometimes life tries to drown out that voice and devalue us. Unfair things happen. People talk negatively about us. Somebody walks out of our life. These struggles and problems try to silence God’s voice, and we have to allow His voice to be strong in us. What really matters is who you are. You may feel insignificant, but God sees you as exceptional.

How you feel and what life has done to you doesn’t change the value of your life in the eyes of God. Remember, you “are God’s masterpiece” (Ephesians 2:10). You are a masterpiece in His eyes. He’s already qualified you, and He’s left nothing out of you. Don’t let your own voice distort the voice of God. You need to shake off whatever’s trying to hold you down. You may feel weak, but your weakness can be turned into strength when you take hold of God. You may feel small like a mouse, but when you grab hold of God’s strength you have the power of an elephant. With Almighty God, you are a courageous champion. You can look at God and say, “Wow, didn’t we really make that bridge shake!”

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