April 6, 2025 Devo

Several years ago, I worked at the Downtown YMCA in Houston. For some time, I assisted in the stress-testing lab where we did physicals on members before designing fitness programs for them. The doctor heading up our lab was the Chief Medical Officer from NASA. One day, we ran tests on a guy whose EKG came back abnormal. When the doctor sat down with the guy to review his tests, he asked about his family’s medical history. The man stated that his father and grandfather had both died of heart attacks. The doctor showed the man his chart and how his heart was reacting under stress. He told him he needed to get this checked out quickly, especially with a family history of heart disease. He also told him he needed to be careful not to elevate his heart rate very much or he could endanger himself.
The man asked a few questions and seemed truly appreciative of what the doctor told him. As the man walked out, I felt good—as if what we did really mattered. We may have caught something that could save this man’s life. That was on a Saturday. The following Monday the man came to the Y, and despite everything the doctor had told him, he tried to run 6 miles with another man who did marathons. He pushed his heart too hard. When he returned to the Y, he fell over dead in the locker room with a heart attack. Even NASA’s finest couldn’t save this man from himself.
“The voice of the LORD is powerful.” It is! But only if we LISTEN! I wonder how often God is trying to speak to us, but we’re not hearing a word He’s saying because our ears are fixated on OTHER voices. God’s powerful voice often speaks in quiet tones. That means we have to quiet ourselves, separate ourselves from other noises, and tune into what God is saying. I’ve often thought that God’s voice is a lot like the crickets at night. It’s when everything else is silenced that we hear Him most clearly.
“The voice of the LORD is powerful.” It is! But we have to HEED IT! It wasn’t a lack of information that caused the death of the man at the Y. It was a lack of obedience. The physician gave him everything he needed to take care of himself. But he chose to ignore it. We often blame God for the messes we get ourselves into when it’s not God’s fault at all. He gives us all the guidance we need. We either don’t hear it or don’t heed it.