Chapel speaker encourages CBU students to be obedient to God’s calling by filtering out distracting voices

Riverside, Calif. (Jan 29,2018) – God is calling every person to heed His voice, but other voices often cause a distraction, Chrystal Evans Hurst told a chapel audience at California Baptist University on Jan. 29.

“All He asks is that we’re willing to respond and follow His voice,” Hurst said.

Hurst, who is an author, speaker and worship leader, used the biblical story of Ruth and Naomi to explain how different voices can be a distraction. When Naomi planned to return to Bethlehem after the death of her husband and two sons, she encouraged her Moabite daughters-in-law—Ruth and Orpah—to go back to their homeland, Hurst explained.

“She was telling them this is going to be uncomfortable for them,” Hurst said. “What she was offering was the voice of emotion. It was the voice of ‘do whatever feels comfortable and good to you right now.’”

When both women indicated they desired to stay with Naomi, she again told them to go home. There can be a second voice that encourages people to do what makes sense, Hurst said.

“Most of the time, God is not going to think about something the way you do,” Hurst said. “Many times in our logical economy, what God asks us to do doesn’t add up.”

Ruth ended up following Naomi back to Bethlehem, which caused a stir when they arrived. The third distracting voice is the chatter from people around you, Hurst said. Ruth pushed through the noise because of her desire to know God. Ruth made the hard choices and as a result, she ended up in lineage of Jesus, Hurst added.

“Follow His voice, even if that means choosing to be uncomfortable, choosing to do what doesn’t make sense and choosing to tune out what well-meaning people might have to say… while you may not know exactly where it leads or how long it will take to get there, He always knows exactly what He is drawing you to,” Hurst said.