Struggling to Follow the Guiding Soft Whisper

With the pool closed for a month of coughs & a chill in the air, I've spent several quiet leisurely afternoons refreshing my memory with some personal biblical character studies. To make reviews memorable, I began to write somewhat speculative essays. Of course, these are fictional as I often read between the lines to imagine what it must have been like when their Creator entered their daily lives and culture.
I tried to envision their emotions struggling often in conflict with desired godly obedience. My thoughts penned formulated imaginary conversations between their own heart and mind as I asked the question: "What would it have been like to have your day invaded by an Invisible Voice of the known Creator commanding an action contrary to your daily activities? I wondered what it must have been like for them to walk by faith and please God long before God's beautiful message of reconciliation had been accomplished through His Son.

We don't often stop and consider that OT characters walked daily 'by faith without all the benefits we've been given through Jesus Christ. What a task they had to look forward toward the Promise! How different from mine was their relationship with the Creator! (Col 3:10Nlt)
I believe there is such hidden treasure in the richness of their faith. When simple English translations say with very few words the immense encounters these heroes experienced with the Almighty, it's hard to grasp the overwhelming struggle they may have undergone! As we read "He obeyed immediately." or "so he went"... I'm not sure we stop to think of all the common issues, thoughts, arguments, challenges, possibilities with emotions that fleeted through the mind at such commands.

Imagine what it would be like even today to hear a Voice command "Go!" and then, try to explain our actions to others! It would be hard to put into words why one was obeying a heard invisible voice. To speculate any hesitancy, doubt, fear or even the amounts of arguments one had within or with family members makes me realize how deeply their faith in the Invisible God really had developed.     

Today, many testify the difficult emotional depths of struggle conflicting with their desire to know God's will. Simple commands given God's children arouse arguments between reason & obedience. Confronted with written commands, different opinions question the reality of the command in light of culture and comfort. Contemplating this struggle today makes the ancients' walk by faith even more astounding, I can't help but wonder how hard it must have been to strive to do what is right by pleasing God without the spiritual strength I'm offered today in Christ.

In the following essay, I've considered the inner questions and longings I might have whispered in prayer, especially questioning if I had really heard and grasped God's command correctly.
If I had heard God like elderly Aaron, I think it would have been difficult to tell others I needed to leave home to wander in the wilderness looking for my lost brother of 40 years. I'm sure apprehension and fear would have choked my thoughts as I left civilization to go into unknown territory. Explaining to leaders and slave taskmasters a need for a leave of absence to follow an invisible Voice would probably have been denied and mocked. My choice may have made it more difficult for others who didn't believe or understand how one can hear audible commands from the Creator. I would have struggled to help others understand the need to take a journey into the unknown. Through the writing of this essay, I've been quite surprised at how many parallels there are today for us as we choose to be God's obedient servants and follow His voice into our wilderness.
And just we must do, these characters stepped out in faith, expecting the Creator to show them the way, often one step at a time. They struggled to obey and had to make life decisions based on faith, just as I must do today. 

A Walk with Aaron. 

His brother had been gone for 40 years; maybe he was even dead, yet the soft whisper on the wind told him to leave Egypt and journey into the wilderness to meet his brother at the Mountain of God. Given no map, he simply knew he needed to go into the wilderness to meet his younger brother. He did not dare refuse. Leaving the quarries was one difficulty he faced but getting past his family's arguments challenged his determined spirit almost to breaking. He just had to go. They finally relented as if he was just an old man who had lost his mind and was leaving the village to face death alone.

As he left civilization to wander the desolate plain, he longed to hear that Voice calling to him again. He wished for verbal directions, something tangible, something specific. He knew he was being led. He could sense it and as he trudged the rough terrain, he had an undeniable peace of heart. He trudged on.
At long last, hope was fulfilled. Far off in the distance, he saw his brother coming toward him.
Their reunion was sweeter than he could have imagined. The lost years had not destroyed their relationship and easily lapsing into conversation restored their love as they walked together again. Retelling stories of their different childhoods and the filling in missing pieces of the past forty years were shared as they returned to Egypt.
So engrossed in conversation, their steps slowed as they neared their destiny. His younger brother told him about the burning bush where the Almighty Creator had spoken on holy ground. Hearing again the lost name of their Creator, YHWH, felt sweet on his whispered breath. He was flabbergasted when told that he was to become God's spokesman, assisting his brother in leading the people of God out of Egypt and slavery. Uncertainty pushed his fears to the surface. The task seemed impossible.
He mustered new courage to speak God's instructions as his brother relayed them to him and he was overwhelmed to witness the powerful fulfillment each time he spoke. He was learning in fresh experiences that YHWH's great power came in simple gestures of obedience.
He spoke. Moses acted. Each time, God's instructions flowed through the two men in word and deed. Each command was followed by Pharaoh mocking the Almighty's power, intensifying the miracles and the attacks on Egyptian worship of false gods.
At last, the night of darkness shook and destroyed Egypt's dreams.
Every first born was dead.
Dressed and ready to flee as instructed, he thought the people of God could not be ushered out of the country any faster. 
They were free.

But this old man of past slavery would learn that newfound freedom took on a variety of challenges with required responsibilities and severe consequences.