As father, pastor, principle, mentor of young adults, and leader of youth—as the authority, Robert has had opportunity to deal with young people who got into trouble. Many of them identify with the apostle Paul, who said, “. . .”I practice the very evil that I do not wish” (Rom 7:19).

They say they didn’t mean to do wrong. They often don’t know why they did it.

In such cases, Robert frequently asks, “When you thought about doing (the thing that led to trouble), did you have a small thought that maybe you shouldn’t do it?”

The answer is always, “Yes.” They had a check in their spirits, but they chose to not listen.

Robert tells them he’s disappointed about their actions. However, ignoring and disobeying the Lord is much more grievous.

They ignored, still, quiet voice of caution was the Holy Spirit.

The voice of caution is quiet. Consequently, it often seems like a small thing to ignore the little prompt of concern.

But rejecting God is not trivial.

In Hebrews 3:7-8, God says, “Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, As in the day of trial in the wilderness,”

Not listening leads to disobedience, which leads to a hard heart, which leads to provoking God, which—are you surprised?—leads to trouble.

It’s a vicious cycle that loops back around, repeating itself as we spiral downward, further and further from God. He gets our attention when trouble comes and we can’t find rest, but it started when we ignored the quiet voice of the Spirit and disobeyed God.

“And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief” (Rom 3:18-19).

We think we believe, but our belief is not deep enough to keep us focused on the Lord and attuned to His Spirit. We think we’re following God, but when our desires are counter to His, we choose to do what we want, not listening to the quiet voice that seeks to guide us. We think it’s a small matter, no big deal.

But God calls it a hardened heart, disobedience, provocation, unbelief. It seems small to us, but it robs us of our rest, and it perpetuates our unbelief.

The Israelites got trapped in this cycle and wandered in the wilderness for 40 more years.

We don’t have to follow their steps. We can stay tuned for the still, quiet voice of the Spirit and heed what it says.

 

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29).

 

He leads me beside quiet waters. (Psalm 23:2b)

 

When has the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit kept you from harm?