My Shepherd's Voice

“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, I know them, and they follow Me.” John 10:4-5, 27.

“The LORD came, stood there, and called as before, ‘Samuel, Samuel!’ Samuel responded, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10

Why Do I Not Hear the Shepherd’s Voice?

Some people talk as though they have a kind of hot line straight into the mind of God. According to them, He tells them things like what to order for lunch, where to find the best parking places, which checkout line to choose, and, oh my yes, what everyone else should be doing, too. In the face of such certainty, many sincere believers begin to wonder what is wrong with them because they have never experienced that kind of specific leading from Heaven. They begin to think God decided He would speak to a few “chosen” sheep, but not to all of them.

Perhaps the real issue is something else. Maybe God is speaking to us more than we imagine. Our actual problem, possibly, is that we have not yet learned the sound, the language, or the character of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. It is also important that our motivation for desiring to hear His voice is honorable.

We should not seek to hear our Shepherd to obtain information as if He were some kind of holy Google app. Our desire for His voice must originate from believing to our very core that He loves us and intends to lead us to green pastures, waters of rest, and restoration for our souls. We want to hear from Him because we are aware of our acute need for His influence in our lives every day. We understand deeply that we have nothing to offer Him, but we still crave His companionship and friendship.

We want to hear Him, to listen carefully and understand what He says, so that we may obey Him and allow the Shepherd’s voice to transform our lives with every word He speaks. Hearing and obedience go together like peanut butter and jelly. We listen to recognize the One who knew us before the creation of the world, and who calls us by our name, because we are determined to follow Him.

Recognizing the Shepherd’s Voice

The Word of God

We must become deeply familiar with Jesus Christ as one person of the triune Godhead as well as the man who walked among us so many years ago. The entire Bible points us to Jesus: His perfect life, His sacrifice for our sins, and His ultimate triumph over death, hell, and the grave. However, the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John have the most to tell us about Jesus as a person who communicated with people, all kinds of people, in all kinds of situations.

Study the Gospels deliberately, reading brief portions at a time. As you read, pay close attention to Jesus. Notice how He responds to those He encounters:
Ashamed people,
Powerful people,
Hurting people,
Arrogant people,
Hopeless people,
Outsiders,
Failures, and, of course,
His enemies.
Listen not only to what He says to them, but how He says it. Get to know what kind of person Jesus is by how He connects with everyone He comes across.

The Character of the Shepherd

Jesus taught us that the sheep run away from the stranger’s voice. Why? Because the stranger’s voice does not reflect the character of our Good Shepherd. This is one of the most clear-cut methods to discern the voice of Jesus. His voice conveys the same quality of personality we witness throughout His earthly life:
Truth and grace,
Courage and compassion,
Authority and love.
The voice of your Savior will correct you but will never embarrass or dehumanize you. His voice will confront your sin and hold you accountable but will never reduce you to your worst failure. His voice may lead you into uncomfortable places, call you to perform stressful and difficult tasks, or ask you for substantial sacrifices. However, His voice will never, ever manipulate you with fear, guilt, or shame.

Time With the Shepherd

Recognition comes with relationship, and relationship grows when we spend time together. Recognition comes from familiarity, and familiarity flourishes during the time we spend in the presence of Jesus. Hearing the voice of the Shepherd is not a “power of positive thinking” mind trick, nor is it the result of developing a highly touted technique. It is the outcome of becoming intimate with a person, and that takes time.

Sadly, time is the one thing we are either unwilling to invest or that we imagine we have too little to spend fostering our relationship with God. Ask anyone how they are doing and the answer is likely to be, “Keeping busy!” Suggesting that time is the avenue we must travel to know the voice of the Shepherd borders on ludicrous. The question we often ask is, “I am slammed! How can I squeeze out another moment to just sit still and listen?” The proper question to ask is, “What can I give up to provide more room for the presence of God in my life?”

You can only build familiarity with Jesus by using the time you have been given to enjoy His presence. Time alone will teach us to recognize what sounds like Jesus and what absolutely does not.

The Voices We Hear

There are so many voices from which we may select. There are Satan’s counterfeit mutters of fear, shame, pressure, and control. In addition, we are encompassed and overwhelmed by an overabundance of modern altars: smart phones, televisions, social media, sports, and copious other amusements upon which we may sacrifice our time. So how can we break away? How can we change what seems impossible?

One of the greatest blessings ever promised to us is recorded in Matthew 5:6.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
The naked truth is that earthly pursuits derive from our natural desires to seek the delights of this world rather than those of the world to come. Those fascinations, while not necessarily sinful in themselves, require a great deal of our attention and resources. They will dull our appetite for the eternal, but they cannot satisfy the needs of our hearts, often leaving us dry, empty, and spiritually malnourished. We must eventually acknowledge an awareness of the barren state of our souls and of our need for more of God. Then we can ask the Holy Spirit for help.

We can begin praying today for that “hunger and thirst for righteousness” to supplant the natural worldly desires of our hearts. As we pray, the desperation developing in our souls undergoes reconstruction, blossoming into an intense, holy desire for more of Jesus.
More of His presence!
More of His anointing!
More of His Spirit!
More of His voice!
More of His character!
More of His glory!
More of His peace!
More of His love!

It is Your Move

Entreat your Shepherd for His refreshing friendship whatever it takes. Allow the breath of the Holy Spirit to blow over the coals of your first love until they reignite into a roaring flame. Pray for this greatest of all blessings: hunger and thirst for God. You will soon hear your Shepherd’s voice with crystal clarity amidst all others.