Tag: voice

after the noise

Karla Lees

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Noise comes in many voices.

When we don’t turn down the voices we are not needing to prioritize, we can miss out on hearing His voice.

The One voice we are most needing to hear.

Pain may be using a megaphone, your kids may be clambering for your attention, or you can’t take the wait so you keep the TV or radio on to drown out the silence.
Or it could be the list of everything you have to do, or what ifs which are speaking loudest in your mind.

Through it all, God waits.

He waits for our attention, after doing all He can to capture ours.

Today has been a weird day for me.  I have been trying not to multi task, and have been able to hear the difference voices competing for my attention.

I want my attention to always be for Him.  Not in the way a child may learn to do something wrong in order to get any attention. I  want to give Him my all.

All my attention, all my affection.

May we all learn to tune out all the loud voices so we can hear His precious whispers when He speaks to us.

talk to me

Karla Lees

There are many voices we listen to, but one that can do the most damage if we give it free rein.

And it may be impacted by the enemy, but it isn’t him.

It’s my, your inner voice. 

Our self talk can block us from hearing God’s voice, keeping our minds so humming we are left desperate for peace & rest.

Yesterday was not a good day for me.

I have a tendency to ‘what if’ when it comes to being told ‘let’s meet’ without any details.

That feeling like you are being called into the principal’s office to get reamed.

Which is funny for me to feel, because that never happened to me.

Part of it is feeling off balance with not knowing what is coming but having been given just enough notice to set my mind on the hamster wheel, and part is my insecurity.

I don’t think I deserve blessings, so I auto think worst case scenario.

And that isn’t healthy for me, my mind or my relationships, especially with God.

As I said yesterday was a mental fight to regain my peace.  So when the worst case scenarios started running through my head, I simply but strategically prayed for God to give me peace in the wait, give me wisdom and to prepare me for whatever might come up. 

Coz really, if its my time to leave a job, freaking out about it doesn’t help me change the reality or cope well.

So I made sure I ate well, did some stretches to keep myself loose, and kept on working, trying to not allow my mind to wander but stay on task. I tried to actively listen for His voice, and let go of the fear of the unknown as I did.

Wisdom is found in knowing we need help, and asking for it in from the best source possible.

Prayer was the best thing I could do at that time, in that busy office.

At home, putting on praise & worship music and diving into the Word helps me calm my mind, and face my fears, knowing God is with me.

I don’t have to let the ‘what its’ have any long term air time. Keeping them as brief commercials means I don’t need to fear them, I can choose to change the channel from Woe is me or fright night to Rest in Him.

At any time,
in every situation,
call out to Him
for what you need.
Whether rescue, rest,
restoration or wisdom,
we will find purpose,
peace in His Presence.
Let the fear go,
let Him go before you.
The wise ones seek the Source of all Wisdom daily!

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Sunday Psalm: Be Still, Seriously?

Karla Lees

Oh Lord
Inside I am racing
like a car engine revving up
for its heat in the big race,
go go go
get ‘er done
check it off the to do list
Peace is feeling farther & farther away with every new task I take on,
with the situation I face
causing me to spin in place
until
miraculously
i hear Your whisper
Your voice breaking through
the chaos of my bustle
the anxiety of my hustle
and You simply say
Rest.
Be still
I got this.
You are in My hands.
Nothing can take you
away from Me.
Nothing you can do
will make Me love you more
Nothing you can say
will change My love towards you
You had your chance
to do it your way,
now its time for the best
to be released
My way
My timing
My help
in My strength
with My purpose for you.

Had enough of spinning your wheels?
Come to Me
and rest.
Tired of a listless spirit?
Come to Me
and live.
Weary of what’s holding you back?
Come to Me
and be free.

Ready to make the change
to never be the same
to live fully in My Name
as i rearrange you
from the inside out?

Seriously,
its time to be still,
and let Me in the driver’s seat.

I know where you are headed.
I know the safest route.
I know how to guide you
through every turn, dip or stop.

Come,
be still.
Rest in me.
Lay your burden down.
I am here waiting for you.

Our next part of our adventure
together is waiting
for you.

Come,
just come.
I’ll take care of the rest.

You only need to be still.
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freedom in belonging

Karla Lees

When you know where you belong, you open up a freedom you may not have known you needed, let alone wanted.

I was always on the outside looking in, I felt, as I was growing up. A fish out of water, or a black sheep standing in sharp contrast to the flock of white ones in the same field.

You know how you just can’t put your finger on that nagging difference or missing part, and that thought sticks with you until you can resolve it?

Kind of like that, a piece looking for the rest of its pizzle.

That reality whispered into the recesses of my mind fairly regularly as I grew up. It took on a whole new aspect when I moved to Quebec, and came back to Ontario six years later fluent in French to a small town that was filled with almost anyone but another French speaking person unless they were a teacher!

So through primary school into middle school into high school, this feeling I don’t quite fit continued to hang around…unless I was singing, playing an instrument or writing. Even so, I played almost anything I touched, which spoke to my giftedness but isn’t as common in a small town.
I read ferociously, loved to learn, wore glasses and suffered through 3 years of retainers and 4 years of braces. I made friends, especially with fellow musicians & artsies…but still felt like a misfit. I was sensitive, but not sure why.

When it came time to head to university, I felt I wasn’t ready for “it” yet, so I headed to a differently structured high school for a year, and discovered something shocking.

At this school, I first experienced feeling like i fit. The structure and classes and fellow students- 90% made for me. I began to hope that after high school, I could find my place in this world. Closer to where I was meant to be.

But getting to know yourself better doesn’t necessarily help you belong.

I spent a few years wandering after high school. Unsure of what I wanted to do because I didn’t know yet who I was.

Then I met Jesus, and the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

I have a few gifts that are not as common, and one of the “side effects” is feeling set apart. Like all of us, I am hardwired to hear God’s voice. For me, at times, quite clearly. The Word shares how this is known as the prophetic. Which ties with that sensitive feeling I had struggled to come to grips with.

And in the bible, most of them were known as being “odd or misfits.” They didn’t quite fit, having one foot in the heavenly places with God, and the other here on the earth.

When you tell people you made a decision based on God’s telling you to go that way, you tend to be looked at funny, and avoided by those who don’t know what to do with you as a result.

The prophetic can be a lonely place to be, just you and God.

But here’s the thing.

I found my place after those years of searching:

I belong to God.

What a price He paid for me, to buy me out of my broken, lonely, lost in the pit of my despair. He set my feed upon solid rock, whispered words of love, and clothes me in fresh white forever robes, naming me Beloved Daughter of the King.

I belong to Him, with every fibre that’s within me.

But I also belong with Him.

Spending time in His Presence reminds me that though I walk on this earth, it is not where I belong. My place is heavenly, in the courts of my King, in the arms of Jesus.

For now, I need the constant reminder of Spirit whispers, reminding me who I am to Him.

So although I have a great family, wonderful church & friends, good jobs- I don’t belong here. I never really did, for He designed us to be with Him.

So whether I feel like I fit is no longer relevant.

My heart is already tied to His, and wherever He is, that’s where I belong.

Home is where the heart is.
You have my heart, God.
And one day
You will welcome me home
forever, and I will live
where I have longed to be,
eternally where I belong!

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voice

Karla Lees

The only way to find your voice is to use it.

Austin Kleon

Jeff Goins just confirmed in today’s daily post what I heard this weekend, first on Saturday at a women’s retreat, and then during prayer time this Sunday morning.

If you are hearing it three times in three days, its likely a lesson you are needing to hear.

In my case, being reminded i need to speak, to use my voice to its fullest.

I have hidden my voice for numerous years, in part from wounding, in part from lack of direction, the remainder because I stopped listening… I wasn’t comfortable what I was hearing.

Still part of the ‘why me’ I battle with, I confessed yesterday that I have struggled over being uncomfortable with being prophetically wired. And I no longer want to grapple with it. I want to be who I am called to be, despite not knowing how this will look.

So this week, I am taking the time to seek Him. Soak. Worship. Read the Word. Listen. Specifically about my purpose. The voice He had for me.

I had a word spoken over me about being a Proverbs 31 wife.
Being capable of much means you have more laid out for you to potentially do, and need to learn what to let go so for others to do.

As a result, I may be laying down some parts of my work life and letting them go to make room for what God may be wanting me to do now in preparation for what may be ahead.

I know deep within i need to do this, so I can find the voice He has for me to speak with, and begin to use it as He leads.

I don’t like saying no, but I would rather say no to people than to say no to God again, and risk disappointing Him.

Some things we do in this world have no significance in the next.

Our obedience does.

So as I come to grips with how He is calling me to step out and use the voice He has waiting for me to speak with… I am a little apprehensive.

How will this all look?
How will our finances cover the changes?
What will my hubby say?
What will people think?

Looking into the unknown up ahead is nerve wracking, but looking into Jesus’ face, I know He has plans to bless and prosper me as I place all my hope in Him.

I am willing to speak His words.
That’s my part.

How others respond is not my part, it’s God’s.

So there may be some more poems, songs, and or prophetic words popping up in the posts in the days ahead, as I seek hard to find the voice He is guiding me to.

But as we align up with His plans, grace, joy, mercy and oh such love abound.

I said to myself years ago that I never wanted to work in a church, nor travel much.  I married a man with the main gift of evangelism, and God is stirring in me to love up on people through my words, song, helps, offering hope and praying for them.

I have no idea how all this is going to work out, if I can be candid.

But I am not called to know all the answers, the future or accumulate wealth: I am called to follow the One who holds it all in His hands, knows it all, and still chooses me.

I am not called to build up my kingdom. but His.

I cannot be my full self until I use the voice He has given me, and begin to sing my heart’s song with all I am!

What a privilege we all have to serve in the individual ways He calls us to.

As we obey, we need to trust God will take care of the rest.  We are safe in His hands, and He will guide us each step of the way.

May you too be blessed as you find your voice, to share what God is stirring in you, and where it is for you to speak it out.

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the song

Karla Lees

I love to sing.

There, I have confessed it in words, on paper, out there for all to read.

I won’t apologize for it.

Its not only been the result of years of training and practice, but it is in the very fiber of my inner most being. Intertwined with my emotions, my thoughts, my dreams and hopes, my voice.

As every singer knows, there are times when its just singing, and other moments when it feels like you are the most alive in the moment, and part of something so much bigger than yourself.

I find this especially true when I sing and lead worship, in small or big groups.

Plugging into where the Spirit leads and surrendering in that split second of a moment to allow my voice to express what He is putting on my heart is my tiny sliver of a glimpse of heaven.

I could just rest in singing nicely. But with every bit of me, i know that i know that for me, it is to be so much more.

Our pastor mentioned this past Sunday how Niagara Falls is a thing of beauty to those who visit it, but a source of power to those who live near it.

I don’t want to be a person of beauty for God, but a willing vessel for His power.

I recently stepped up after a period of time and felt I was to offer to sing, in front of almost complete strangers in an intimate setting, and surprised myself by having complete peace about it. I know God is leading me, and there is peace and confidence in following, even if I don’t yet get it.

The song is always found in the surrender.