Hearing God
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:” John 10:27
“Why haven’t I been hearing you, Lord?” I whined to the Lord one day.
“You have been hearing from me. You just don’t like what you’ve been hearing,” He spoke gently yet firmly into my heart.
How could I argue? His Spirit convicted me right on the spot. Not only had I been hearing from God, but I had been hearing Him in volumes. He had been speaking to me directly in His Word. And He had been speaking to me personally right into my heart in line with His Word. God never speaks against His own Word, so I know to measure anything I believe I hear from Him against His Word to make sure it’s from Him.
The problem wasn’t that God hadn’t been speaking to me. Nor that I hadn’t been listening. It was that I didn’t like everything I was hearing. The Lord reminded me His Word and His ways are not a beautiful buffet table for us to gobble up what looks delicious and to leave behind the rest.
Does a good, loving shepherd lead His sheep by His voice only for the sheep to decide when they’re in the mood to hear and follow their shepherd? Does God speak to us in His Word and speak to us personally in our hearts in line with His Word only for us to hear and obey Him when we like what we hear and feel like following? In a loving and trusting relationship between a shepherd and his sheep, do the sheep choose when to obey their shepherd’s voice calling?
How many of us refuse to hear the voice of the Lord at all by refusing to study His Word? Or are dangerously unable to discern His voice because we are relying on preachers, devotional books, etc. to teach us the Bible and don’t even know if we’re being taught the Truth because we don’t study the Bible for ourselves and may even be under false teaching? Or don’t hear God speaking to our hearts personally in line with His Word because we refuse to spend time with Him praying, seeking His face, and listening for His voice? Or study His Word, spend time in intimate fellowship with Him, and hear His voice, but decide if and when to love and obey Him?
John 10:27 makes clear three things:
- The Lord’s sheep hear His voice
- The Lord knows those who are His sheep
- The Lord’s sheep who are known by Him don’t just hear Him. They follow Him!
The true sheep of the Lord repent of their sins, believe in Christ as Lord, hear Him, and follow Him now and forever in heaven. Are you hearing and following the Lord?