Recently my niece turned 16. And upon turning 16, her parents threw her a huge party filled with games, fun, food, and competition. Competition? Yep, competition. Tons of competitive games. Being an avid lover of competition, I threw myself fully into every game. It was the best 16th birthday party ever!
One of the games was called “Find the Hose.” I’ve never played the game before, but soon found myself a huge fan. Let me explain the game, because I assume you have probably never heard of it either (other than the times where you really couldn’t find your garden hose and spent hours searching your shed or garage).
So, here’s how the game worked…
“Find the Hose” involved teams lining up on either side of the yard. Each team member was assigned a number that matched with another player on the opposite team. Let’s say you are number 9, so there would be another number 9 on the other team who would be your matched opponent. After the numbers were assigned, the host of the game would place the garden hose randomly in the space between the two teams and scream a number.
“9!”
The two number nines would run out of line and try to find the hose. Hence the name, “Find the Hose.” A winner was only declared once someone located the hose and sprayed water at the opponent! Sounds easy, right? Just wait until your number is called, get the hose, and spray your opponent. Pretty simple.
There was just one catch: you are blindfolded. The whole time you are trying to find the hose you can’t see a thing!
The only help you have (besides crawling desperately on the ground and grasping pieces of grass hoping it is a garden hose) is your teammates. Once a number was called, the rest of the players were allowed to remove their blindfolds and try to talk you through the steps of finding the hose.
Well, “talk” is a mild word. Players from both sides are SCREAMING at you to turn left, turn right, go straight, go back. And you don’t know who is talking to who, if your teammates are telling you to turn left or if it is your opponent’s teammates telling them to turn left. It is completely chaotic!
But almost every single time my niece’s number was called, she won. She always found the hose first and sprayed her opponent for the declared win.
How?
First, let me tell you that it was not a situation like that of Pastor Chris’s opponent. He was assigned a number that happened to match up with a little seven year old boy. The boy decided that the only way he would have a chance up against big, tall, Pastor Chris was to just not use his blindfold. Genius, right? He came to the conclusion that he could easily find the hose as long as he could see. So, when Chris’s number was called, the little boy would lift off his blindfold and simply go straight to the hose and proceed to spray Chris right in the face. Chris never won once and never even had a chance!
So, if my niece used her blindfold appropriately, why was she able to find the hose so easily? Was it because we let the birthday girl win each time?
Nope.
She won because she listened to one voice on her team. Her aunt’s voice… my voice. Voices were coming at her from all directions, but she zeroed in on the voice she was most familiar with out of anyone else’s on her team. She tuned out every other voice and focused in on my voice and allowed that voice to direct her straight to the hose. She found the hose first more than any other player (besides the little seven year old boy).
Even though a lot of you have never played “Find the Hose,” you actually play it more than you know. Every day, in fact. In our spiritual life we are always trying to locate the “hose”… God’s will, the right thing to do, the purpose for our lives, etc., and we have voices screaming at us from all directions. When playing the game “Find the Hose”, there were a number of voices you could choose to listen to, and those same voices are true for us as we walk our faith journey.
One of those voices was from the opponent.
If my niece would have listened to the other team screaming “Turn left!” when she was actually supposed to turn right, she would have been going in the opposite direction. She would have surely lost and had the consequence of getting sprayed with cold water. Likewise, our enemy is always trying to take us down the wrong path. When we listen to our enemy we are headed in the opposite direction that will only result in loss and consequences.
Another voice(es) is the clamor of others.
Yes, sometimes other people can shine wisdom in our situations and can be extremely helpful. In fact, God calls us to be in relationship with others and share our burdens with them. But sometimes there are so many voices all around us telling us different things that we can’t tell what is up and what is down. Listening to everyone while trying to find the hose was extremely overwhelming. Even if they all knew where the hose was, they didn’t all direct you the same way. Sometimes you heard, “Go back” because the hose was behind you. But it was also to your right. And so at the same time you were hearing “go back”, you were also hearing “turn right” which only resulted in more confusion.
Another voice comes from ourselves.
We think we know where to go. We don’t care what anyone else is saying. Sometimes we have an easier time trusting in ourselves than in others. Sometimes we are right. Other times we are blinded and only think we know best. While searching for the nozzle of the hose to spray your opponent, you could find a part of the long hose and think you made it and were about to win. The problem was when you started making your way to the wrong end of the hose and not toward the nozzle! Sometimes we think we know the way, but we are actually just headed the wrong way.
My niece did not dominate this game because she listened to the opponent, or to the clamor of others, or even herself.
She won because she listened to one voice.
That’s how we win too…we listen to that One Voice.
The Lord’s voice.
Isaiah says it perfectly,
And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
-Isaiah 30:21 ESV
Isaiah’s words offered direction to the children of Israel as they struggled with sin and idolatry. The Israelites had “voices” all around them trying to lead them astray from the laws of God. Before this verse, Isaiah told the Israelites to cry to God for help and promised them that God would hear them and answer them.
If my niece needed more directions or better directions, she would tell me. She would ask for my help, and I answered. Believe me, I was not silent! I wanted her to hear me.
God wants you to hear Him too.
You might say, “But I can’t. He doesn’t talk to me. He’s completely silent.”
But, is He really?
Have you turned to Him? Have you sought Him? Have you cried out to Him, and asked to hear Him? More importantly, are you familiar with His voice? Would you even know it was Him who was talking to you?
One reason why my niece chose to listen to me was because she knew me. She spent more time with me than anyone else on her team. She recognized my voice, and knew my voice the best. She never had to question if I was on her team or the opponent’s team, because she knew my voice well.
Do you recognize His voice?
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
-John 10:27 ESV
The only way to be familiar with God’s voice is by spending time with Him…which involves praying and reading His word. That way when you need to know what is right, you will recognize what is right and true because you are now familiar with what contradicts His Word.
You will recognize His voice because you have spent time with Him and have begun understanding how He talks to you…either through the Bible, in your prayer time, listening to sermons, through His creation, etc.
You will know your Shepherd so well that you can hear Him and follow Him because you know Him not just in a head knowledge kind of way, but in an intimate and deep way. You will know His voice the best and never have to question that He is on your team.
Do you know Him that way?
My niece knew that I not just existed, that I wasn’t just there as a random voice, but she knew she could trust me. She knew I would not lead her astray. She knew that I wanted her to win, I wanted her to succeed, I wanted what was best for her. Because I loved her.
We must trust Jesus. Trust that He will never lead you astray. He wants you to win, He wants you to succeed, He wants what is best for you. He loves you.
What voice are you listening to? The opponent’s? The confusing mix of many? Yourself?
Or are you listening to the One who will always lead you in the right direction?
Sometimes you will feel like you are blindfolded and have no idea where to go. Life does not always allow us to lift up the blindfold like a seven year old and head straight for the win. Sometimes finding the hose is difficult. The voices surrounding you might be loud and overwhelming. But never forget that there is a voice behind you saying,
“This is the way. Walk in it.”
So, go find that hose. More importantly, find that Voice. Hear that Voice. Follow that Voice.
If you don’t… watch out! There might be a stream of water coming straight for your face.
-Christa Morris
