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Mind The Gap | Influence Follows Proximity · Wilder Whispers Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hey friend, welcome to Wilder Whispers, a space where we slow down and listen for God's voice in the ordinary moments of life.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Shay Wooden, and I'm so glad you're here.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: We often expect God to speak through big moments, a sermon, a breakthrough, a perfectly quiet prayer time, and he does, but so often he chooses quieter ways, in the middle of everyday life, in the unnoticed moments, in gentle whispers that invite us closer.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Each episode, I'll share one simple story and the quiet truth God revealed through it, not because it was extraordinary, but because he was present.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: So wherever you are right now, take a breath, let's slow down, and listen together.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: There are certain phrases that become so familiar we stop thinking about them.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: One of those phrases is heard every day on the London Underground.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: As passengers step on and off the train, a voice repeatedly reminds them, Mind the gap.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's a simple warning.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: Pay attention to the space between where you are and where you need to be.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Recently, that familiar phrase made me think about something much deeper.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: It reminded me of a moment with my daughter Brittany and a lesson God quietly whispered to my heart about influence, proximity, and the voices we choose to listen to.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: There are two days that will forever be etched in my memory.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Both felt like the best day and the worst day of my life.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: The first was the day Britney was born.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: We'd waited a long time for her, 25 months to be exact.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: When the day finally came, things didn't go as planned, and I ended up having an emergency C-section.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Because of that, she was already a few hours old before I got to hold her for the first time.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: They wheeled me from the recovery room down to the nursery so I could meet her.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: When they placed her in my arms, she was crying.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: I held her close and began talking to her.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: I told her how much I loved her.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: I tried to soothe her and reassure her, and almost immediately she quieted down and rested against me.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: It was one of the sweetest moments of my life.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: As I held her, I was overwhelmed by the responsibility of being a parent.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: This tiny little baby girl would depend on us for everything.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: We would help shape her values, her beliefs, and the person she would become.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: For years, I was one of the loudest voices in her life.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: I was there for the bedtime stories, the scraped knees, the celebrations, the disappointments, and all the ordinary moments in between.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then one day it was time to take her to college.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: I remember helping her move into her dorm room in Tennessee.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: We carried boxes, arranged furniture, and did all the little things parents do to help their children settle into a new season.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then came the moment I had been dreading.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: It was time to leave.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: As we drove away, I looked back and watched her grow smaller and smaller in the distance until I couldn't see her anymore.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Part of me was excited for her, but part of me was heartbroken.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: For the first time in her life, I wouldn't be there for the daily conversations.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't be the first voice she heard when she faced a difficult decision.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Professors and friends and countless other influences would now have access to her life in ways I never could.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's the reality every parent eventually faces.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: The people who once lived within the sound of our voice grow up, spread their wings, and build lives of their own.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: As I thought about those early days when Brittany would rest in my arms and immediately recognize my voice, Holy Spirit quietly whispered in my heart, the voice you hear most clearly will always be from the one closest to you.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: As I reflected on Brittany leaving for college, I realized something every parent eventually learns.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Influence follows proximity.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: For eighteen years, I had a front row seat in her life.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: My voice carried influence because I was present.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: When she left for college, my love for her didn't change, and my desire to help her didn't change.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: But proximity changed.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: And with that change came the realization that other voices would naturally have greater influence.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: As I reflected on that whisper, I began to see this principle throughout Scripture.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Notice the progression.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: First, he walks, then he stands, and then he sits.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: At first he's simply moving in the same direction.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Then he stops and lingers.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Eventually he settles in and becomes comfortable.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: What began as exposure becomes influence.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: And what becomes influence eventually shapes identity.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: That is how influence often works.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: Rarely does someone wake up one day and suddenly abandon their convictions.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: The process is usually much slower.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: A voice gains access, an idea gains attention, a perspective gains credibility.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Over time, what was once outside of us begins to shape what is inside of us.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: The closer we become to a voice, the greater opportunity it has to influence our thinking, our choices, and ultimately our lives.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's why gaps matter, because every gap creates an opportunity for another voice to move closer.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Samson's story is one of the clearest examples in scripture of what happens when the wrong voices gain access to our lives.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Before Samson was ever born, God had already declared his purpose for him.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: An angel appeared to Samson's parents and revealed that their son would be set apart for God and would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: His calling wasn't a mystery.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: His purpose wasn't hidden, and his parents knew it.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Samson knew it.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: From the very beginning his life had been marked by divine intention.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yet when we read his story we discover that his greatest battles were not with lions, armies, or the Philistines.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: His greatest battles were with the influences he allowed into his life.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Samson didn't lose his way overnight.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Very few people do.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like the progression we see in Psalm one, the drift happened gradually.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: A step here, a compromise there, a relationship that should have remained at a distance was welcomed closer.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: A desire that should have been surrendered was entertained instead.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Little by little, the boundary between God's purpose and Samson's preferences became blurred.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: What makes Samson's story so tragic is that God kept speaking.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: His calling never changed.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: His assignment never changed.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord didn't suddenly abandon him, but Samson began giving greater weight to competing voices than to the purpose God had spoken over his life.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: The Philistine woman he pursued repeatedly pulled his heart in a different direction.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: The culture surrounding him constantly challenged the consecration that had marked him from birth.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: His own appetites demanded immediate satisfaction rather than long term obedience.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: Each choice may have seemed insignificant by itself, but small compromises have a way of widening the gap.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Eventually the very things Samson welcomed into his life began shaping the course of his life.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: The man who had been called to influence a nation was now being directed by the voices around him.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: The one who was meant to lead was being led.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: The one who was set apart had become entangled.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: And what began as a series of seemingly small concessions ultimately cost him his freedom, his strength, his testimony, and his effectiveness.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: Not because God stopped speaking, but because Samson stopped treating God's voice as the most important voice in his life.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Thankfully, Samson's story isn't the end of the story.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: While Scripture warns us about the danger of the gap, it also reveals the heart of the one calling us near.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: As I thought about Brittany leaving for college, I realized something else.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: The ache I felt wasn't about losing control, it was about love.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted her close because I loved her.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to protect her.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to encourage her.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to help her navigate the challenges she would face.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted her to know that no matter what happened, she was never alone.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: And that's when my thoughts turned to one of my favorite verses in all of Scripture.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Deuteronomy thirty three and twelve says, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him who shelters him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: What a beautiful picture.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Moses doesn't describe God as a distant ruler sitting on a throne.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: He paints the image of a loving father carrying his child, not merely near him, not merely under his care, but so close that there is no gap at all between his shoulders, close enough to hear his voice, close enough to experience his strength, close enough to rest in his peace, close enough to know they are secure.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think sometimes we misunderstand God's invitations.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: When he calls us near, we assume he is trying to restrict us.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: When he warns us about certain influences, we imagine he's trying to keep us from something good.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: But the Father's heart has never been rooted in control.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's always been rooted in love.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: He knows what happens when competing voices begin shaping our thinking.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: He knows how easily truth can become distorted, how convictions can erode, how compromise can creep in unnoticed, how slowly drift occurs.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: He has seen the heartache that follows when people listen to voices that promise life but ultimately bring destruction.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: So his invitation isn't a demand, it's an act of love.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: The same way I wanted Brittany close because I cared about her well-being.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Our Heavenly Father Abba desires closeness with his children because he cares about the direction of our lives.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: He knows that every gap creates an opportunity for another voice to move in.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: And he knows that his words lead to life, peace, wisdom, and safety.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: The Father's desire is not simply that we hear him, his desire is that we know we are loved by him.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because when we understand his heart, staying near no longer feels like an obligation.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: It becomes a place of rest.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: As I reflected on this whisper, I couldn't help but ask myself a few questions.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: What voices have moved into the gap?
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: What voices am I allowing to shape my thoughts, my attitudes, and my decisions?
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because the truth is, none of us live in a vacuum.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Every day we are surrounded by voices competing for our attention.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: Some speak life, some speak fear.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Some point us towards God's purpose, but others slowly pull us away from it.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: The challenge is that influence is often subtle.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: We rarely notice it happening in the moment.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like the progression in Psalm 1, it usually happens gradually.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: A conversation, a relationship, an opinion, a source of entertainment, a social media feed, a habit of thought.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Over time, what we repeatedly listen to begins to shape how we think and how we live.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: But this isn't just about us.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Influence never stops with us.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Someone is watching how we respond to life's challenges.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: Someone is listening to the words we speak.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Someone is learning from the example we set.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: Whether we realize it or not, every one of us has influence.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: We may never stand on a stage, we may never have a large platform, but we all have people within our circle of influence.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Children, grandchildren, friends, co-workers, neighbors, family members.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: The voices shaping us today will often determine the influence we have on others tomorrow.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: So perhaps today is a good time to pause and take inventory.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: What voices have moved into the gap?
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: And are they leading you closer to God's purpose for your life or farther away from it?
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: If the Holy Spirit has highlighted an area of your life today, don't ignore it.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: Take a few moments to sit quietly with him.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Ask him to reveal any voices that have been competing for influence in your life.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've allowed a gap to form, remember that the Father's invitation remains the same.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: Come close.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: His heart toward you is love.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for loving us so completely.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for speaking to us through your word, through your spirit, and through the ordinary moments of life.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for being a loving Father who desires what is best for his children.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Father, we confess that there are times when we have allowed other voices to carry more weight in our lives than they should.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: We've listened to fear instead of faith.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: We've given attention to opinions, distractions, and influences that have pulled our hearts away from your truth.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: Forgive us for the places where we have failed to mine the gap.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Today we ask you to search our hearts.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Reveal any voice that is competing for influence in our lives.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Help us recognize the things that are shaping our thoughts, attitudes and decisions.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Give us wisdom to discern what is drawing us closer to your purpose and what is leading us away from it.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: Help us be people whose lives reflect your heart and whose influence points others toward you.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: And Father, we praise you because you are good.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Your heart towards us is always love.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: You are faithful even when we drift.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: You continue to call us, guide us, protect us, and lead us.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you that your voice still speaks truth, life, wisdom, and peace.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: May we walk closely with you and faithfully influence those you have placed in our lives.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: In the name of Jesus we pray.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe today you've realized that the issue isn't that God has stopped speaking.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps other voices have simply been given greater access.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: The voices we welcome into our lives will eventually shape the direction of our lives.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: Today's whisper to carry with you is this: Mind the gap.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: Not because God is far away, but because every gap creates room for another voice to move closer.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for spending this time with me on Wilder Whispers.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: I hope today's story reminded you that God is closer than we often realize and that he's still speaking, even in the ordinary moments of life.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: Whispers are the language of closeness.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: They invite us to lean in.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: As you go about your day, whether you're working, resting, driving, or just trying to catch your breath, stay attentive.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: God is not far away.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: He's not silent.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: He's near, and he's speaking.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, keep listening.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is Wilder Whispers, and I'm Shaywin.