Sometimes I hear voices…. Voices all around me, and I am not talking about my students. You know those dozens of voices that you hear from all sorts of places? Voices telling me what to do and what not to do. What to wear and what not to wear. How to act and how not to act.  What to say and what not to say. What to think and what not to think….”Those” voices.

Maybe you hear them too.  They are all around us in society. Some voices genuinely try to help while others only aim to tear down. Sometimes we don’t even have to literally “hear” the voices; we only have to watch people in action to understand exactly what is being said. Remember the saying, “Actions speak louder than words?”……. “Those” voices.

Then, there are those quiet voices that I hear loud and clear in my head. Voices that steal my joy and peace. Voices that make me feel bitter and mad. Voices that want me to feel discouraged. Voices that tell me to just give up. Voices that make me feel scared and alone.Voices that make me believe there is no reason to hope….”Those voices.”

When Holt Rowland moved up to playing live pitch baseball from the pitching machine, he heard those discouraging voices, too. You can pretty well trust a pitching machine to throw a strike in a safe zone, but when you are a batter standing  in front of a real person, and that real person is an inconsistent eleven-year-old pitcher, it is difficult to be so trusting. Now Holt would not want me to say he was “scared,” but because he was a big kid he was also a BIG target, so he got hit a lot when he started live pitch. Getting hit often caused Holt to become a  little apprehensive at the plate, and he developed a bad habit of lifting his front shoulder before he started to swing through the ball. That slight movement was just enough to mess up his bat speed. In order to straighten out his swing, we decided to take him to a hitting coach for help.

As Holt worked on hitting  fundamentals in the batting cage, we worked on spiritual fundamentals at home. My solution to help Holt was straight from the Bible….where every solution should be found. I read him verses from the Bible where God specifically told Joshua, “Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or discouraged”-Joshua 1:9. I mean there is no doubting how God feels about facing our fears. We encouraged  Holt to pray before each game and to remember that God did not want him to feel nervous or afraid, no matter the situation. I kept preaching to him that God said we should not be afraid or scared…..and that even meant we shouldn’t be afraid of getting hit by a baseball.

Soon after telling Holt to pray about feeling apprehensive, we heard the song “Voice of Truth” by Casting Crowns. That song became a theme song in our family for overcoming fear.  The chorus says…”The voice of truth says, ‘Do not be afraid.’ With all the voices calling out to me, I will listen and believe the voice of truth.” When that song would play on the radio, the boys and I would sing together; it made me feel like we were all gaining courage with every note.

If you think about all the stories in the Bible, God has helped a lot of people through some pretty tough situations….much tougher than live pitch baseball. Think about David facing that giant when he was just a teenager. Hundreds of men watching as he faced Goliath with only a sling and a stone.  Think about the Peter climbing out of that boat and walking on the water to Jesus. With waves crashing around him and the thought of sinking on his mind, he had to have felt afraid and uncertain about the deep waters below. Many people would be terrified to just climb out of the boat let alone be brave enough to attempt to walk on water.

God has repeatedly helped men and women in the Bible overcome their fears simply by allowing them to lean on him for strength and courage. It’s not the people in those stories who were extraordinary but the fact they depended on a God who was and still IS extraordinary. Their dependence solely on God made all the difference.

Our lives today are more similar to Bible times than you might think. I do not literally face a giant man every day, but there are giant problems that I have to battle on a daily basis. I don’t try to walk on water, but often I feel like the waves of reality and life are knocking me down and trying to take me under. And still today, like years ago, an extraordinary God is willing to provide all the courage and strength I need if I will depend solely on him.

Holt overcame his fears. He learned to listen to the voice that provided him comfort and courage rather than a voice that fed his fears. I need to follow that same advice. When any of “those voices” try to convince me otherwise, it is only the “Voice of Truth” that I want to listen to and believe.

“Voice of  Truth” by Casting Crowns