the other voice

So I was having lunch with one of my dearest friends Annie yesterday and she said something that has been coming up more and more the last couple of weeks in my life. She says to me that we are made to get our identity from an outside voice. Now let me say that I have some really smart friends. I have friends that are book smart but have no common sense, friends that can hustle their way out of anything but couldn't pass a college class to save their soul. I have friends that own businesses, who hear the Lord and who are very discerning.

So when Annie said that to me i really took it to heart as one of the smartest things I have heard for a couple of reasons.
1. Annie is really smart
2. That thought has been going on in my mind for a while
3. I just read something like that in a book that is kicking my butt. (thats for another post)

But I started to process that with her and what that means and why we not only want to hear who we are from the outside but need it. A very fun and deep conversation that I have grown to love and expect from Annie. After I left Annie I thought about this even more and really pieced together what the Lord has been saying to me lately and that is "I want to go on an adventure with you", that voice that has been speaking to me is one of a Father that desires to talk to me all of the time.

I have been reading Searching For God Knows What by Donald Miller and it is a really good book. Very fresh and unique in the points and questions Miller raises. One of the biggest points he makes is,

"Man is wired so he gets his glory (his security, his understanding of value, his feeling of purpose, his feeling of rightness with his Maker, his security for eternity) from God. This relationship is so strong and Gods love is so pure, that Adam and Eve felt no insecurity at all, so much so that they walked around naked and didnt even realize they were naked. But when that relationship was broken, they knew it instantly. All of their glory, the glory that came from God, was gone."

This little passage has really been speaking to me so you can see why when Annie said what she said yesterday it was like a kick in the face. I mean I have literally read this same passage everyday for a week straight. But I think Miller brings up a point that I never thought about and that point is it's impossible to give yourself your identity. I mean you can do things and act a certain way but until someone else notices and validates the action it is not an identity. The next thought that came up to me is that it must have really sucked to be Adam and Eve. They were able to be completely in the presence of the Lord with nothing separating them and then in an instant they realized they were naked. Miller goes on to equate it to being in love and the person just not being there. I think it is even crazier than that. I mean we were born knowing we are naked and we need to be covered and we are searching for that voice to tell us who we are and our importance. They had that voice and lost it, gave it away, weren't satisfied with it, wanted more. Only to find nothing can replace it.

So the adventure that I am embarking on is to hear the quiet voice through the noise. The one that can actually suffice. The voice that spoke Greg Buckman into existence and the one that not only wants to but has the authority to tell me who I am.

So the question is.........

What voice are you listening to?????