"The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow
Me.
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never lose it or perish throughout the ages.
[To all eternity they shall never by any means be destroyed.] And no one is able to snatch them out of My hand.
My Father, Who has given them to Me, is greater and mightier than all [else]; and no one is able
to snatch [them] out of the Father's hand." (John 10:27-29)
One of the most precious attributes of eternal life - of recognizing and knowing and understanding
our Father - is to know and hear His voice. And yet it also seems to be one of the most challenging aspects of our Christian
journey. How do we truly know what is His voice, His utterance, His speaking to us? When is that still, small
voice just our own thoughts and when is it His Spirit? And can't we get carried away and think everything is a message
from God?
These are very common questions, and yet, tragically, many people stop at the questions
and bury their treasure in the ground. Remember the parable of the talents? Those who took the risk to invest
their talents gained more than they could have imagined. But the one who buried it out of fear lost everything.
I know we all make mistakes when learning to hear the Spirit of God. We all "miss it" at times.
But our Father is One Who looks at the heart; He will not push us away for our unsuccessful attempts, but rather rejoices
in our every step of faith and desire. He longs for us to know His voice and His ways even more than we do. Hebrews
10:39 tells us that it is only when we shrink back in fear that He find no pleasure or delight in us.
Our mistakes, on the other hand, are simply sign posts which prove our intentions are in earnest.
Don't shrink back just because you're not sure if what you are hearing is really God. Press
in. Step out. Believe in His great desire to be One with us, and trust that His voice is truly the loudest
in all of creation when our heart is yearning to hear.
Amy
