Questions we struggle with.
While driving with my youngest son and listening to some of his questions. It occurred to me as adults we ask the same questions we did as a child. We may use bigger words, or make it appear more mature in our language, but we still struggle with the same thing a young child does. For example my son asked me, “how do you hear God’s voice, and how do you know it is him?” Wow that is a big question for a 8 year old and one some of us adults are still asking.
John 10:2-5
“But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.â€
Have you noticed the same thing happens to newborns, they could be crying and fussy but as soon as they hear their Mother’s voice they calm right down. The same occurs when we listen to our Savior’s voice when he calls us BY NAME. He is not only calling you by your particular name friends and family call you, but a spiritual name. A name that is the essence of who you are.
Psm 139: “Oh Lord, you have searched me and you know me…For you have created my inner most being.”
In John it sates that once he calls each person by their name, they recognize the gatekeepers voice. His voice is seared into their being, they know that his voice is one they can trust to lead them to safety (or salvation). When a stranger comes to steal or destroy, the sheep flee for they do not recognize the voice.
I told my son, I know God’s voice because of the words he has written in the bible. I read the bible, I study it, I memorize it so I learn to recognize my gatekeepers voice. When I hear something that does not line up to the words God has written to me, or if I find myself thinking thoughts that God does not say in the bible. Then I know to run because it is not a voice I recognize, or one I should be listening to. The gatekeeper will never contradict himself, he is always consistent and always true.
The only way to know your gatekeepers voice is to become familiar with His words.
Heavenly Father, thank you that you call each of us out by name. There is nothing you don’t know, nothing you don’t see, we can follow you and know we are safe. Thank you Lord for you grace and mercy you pour out each and everyday. Amen.
Thanks for sharing this, great post.
To me that is such a profound thought, that God calls me by name. He truly is an amazing God!
An excellent post. When I read the first paragraph, I was thinking if I was in the same situation, I would tell my child that in order to hear God’s voice and to know it is God is by reading His word and taking it inside of you and eventually it will become apart of your heart. Then you will know by gentle or not so gentle pullings that God is speaking to you. What you are doing and what you have been doing, reading the bible, memorizing scripture, etc, is something I have been striving to do lately but not with as much passion as I should. This post has started me thinking again of these things. At night when I try to be silent and hear God, I hear Him saying lately “Let go of the world.” and I know in order to successfully do that I must do what you have done, study, memorize, absorb His word. When we do this we know the gatekeepers voice and it becomes the most important voice. God Bless..
Very insightful, and an excellent reminder that I need to actively invest in “getting familiar” with His voice. Thank you!
I love the idea that He calls us by name and then we never forget His voice.
It is so true– we still have sometimes questions…I remember the times when I didn’t know my Heavenly Father’s voice and was just wandering…
Thank you for sharing these beautiful thoughts, my friend…Blessings to you and yours.
I know God’s voice because of the words he has written in the bible.
Such a freshing reminder to me..I also ask myself how I know God’s voice many times. Till now I am looking for the answer.
Today I get the answer for your post. Thanks…
Laruel,
So many people in this world crave God’s voice. They try to hear it in all the wrong places, like the book The Secret. They listen and try to hear God in the television, in their neighbors….. It grieves me.
You can hear God’s voice and it is exactly how you say. You must know the Shepherd. Oh, that we would take time to KNOW the Shepherd…..
This post was brilliant and inciteful and full of God’s desire to show people how to “hear” Him. Thank you for pointing people to the Shepherd so they can hear His voice. Thank you.