Listening to God's Voice

Often we read in the Scripture about God’s speaking to people – to Samuel, to Mary, to Joseph, to Paul and others. But we wonder if God can and does speak to us today and how He does it. Some do not believe that God does speak to people today.

Let me reassure you that God does speak to us today. Like Elijah – we often expect God to use bombastic speech, like thunder, lightning, or some huge noisy event. Elijah’s encounter with God reinforces that God does speak – however, it is frequently in a still small voice. Could it be that the busyness, hurriedness, and noise all around us keeps us from hearing His voice?

Jesus taught us in John 10: 3,4 “The watchman opens the gate for him and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.”

Shepherds in Jesus’ day tended their flocks of sheep on the hillsides in the daytime and put them in enclosed pens at night for protection from wolves, bandits, and other predators. One sheep pen would hold the flocks of many shepherds on any given evening. How would a shepherd separate out his sheep from all the others in the morning? He would call them by name and the sheep followed their shepherd because they knew his voice.

I am wondering, if you know the sound of the Shepherd’s voice. Have you heard Him speak to you? Too busy talking to Him to take time to listen to Him? Are there noises or busyness or hurriedness that drown out His still small voice?

“Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10

Listening ~ Bob