Hearing His Voice

 

One television show has a character who speaks with enthusiasm but his voice is so garbled that most viewers cannot understand a word. The show’s main characters do, and oddly enough, close captioning gets most of it, but even without knowing what he is saying, his gestures and emotions Sometimes give clues.

I’m glad Jesus is not like that. He says,

Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live….Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice…. (John 5:25-28)

…. 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.… My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:3-27)

Do we need to learn it? Or do we just know it? Today’s reading says that we learn to hear it through Scripture, providential circumstances, and through a divine inner conviction, and the more we obey, the clearer His voice becomes.

Jesus did not say that. He says we just know it. In my experience, the problem is not lack of knowing but lack of listening. I can think of countless examples of ‘just knowing’ I was supposed to do something. Sadly, I also have many examples of ‘just knowing’ but not listening, either because I didn’t want to do it or I wanted something other than what Jesus was telling me. My lack of obedience did not dull my hearing, but it did and still does hinder my spiritual growth.

The voice of a stranger could refer to Satan with his lies or to false teachers with their persuasions. It could also refer to my flesh or old nature with its I-wants and pride that assumes I have a better plan. I’ve also had times when that voice was a whisper and my way simply shouted so loud that I didn’t want to hear God. Those are the times that I learned lessons the hard way — by making foolish decisions and doing the wrong thing, only to realize later that God knows best.

A good point from the reading is to make sure His voice is His voice before I move ahead. Sometimes my thoughts sound good but they are not His thoughts. He says:

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9)

This is why Bible reading and careful study are so important. Not only do Christians make errors by not reading, but by assumptions. For instance, no verses say there were three wise men, not a big deal yet a mistake due to lack of research.

PRAY: Lord, I’m glad that You speak into my life. Today, I have clear direction from You regarding today’s to-do items and the importance of diligence in them. I also hear You when talking with friends about their prayer requests and later as You remind me to pray. I’m prone to make lists of things so I will not forget, yet Your voice reminds me and keeps me on track because I am prone to forgetting to look at my lists! Not only that, You often surprise me with Your words of peace and comfort when I get in a dither or am over-tired. Thank You so much for talking to me and with me, for making Your thoughts known, and for directing my words and actions too.