Listening to God
The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
John 10:3
Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28). The security that we have in Christ is not based on our ability to hang on to the hand of God. It is based on God’s ability to hold on to us and protect us against the spiritual wolves that would try to snatch us out of His hand.
Jesus is the Great Shepherd, and we are the sheep of His pasture. He calls every one of us by name, and we listen to His voice (see verse 3). “When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice” (verse 4). On His own authority, Jesus has laid down His life for us. He is not a hired hand who works for wages. He is the Great Shepherd who loves us.
God has spoken through His prophets and apostles, who faithfully proclaimed His Word and wrote it down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We listen to the voice of God when we read His Word and when we hear it proclaimed by faithful servants who have been called as evangelists, pastors and teachers. We also listened to His voice at salvation when Jesus opened the gate and invited us in. Our acceptance of that invitation may have been in response to a gospel tract or an evangelistic meeting, an invitation at church, or someone who simply shared his or her faith.
However, even though we might have heard the gospel proclaimed or saw it in print, there was an inner “voice” that persuaded us to come inside. We felt convicted of our sin, but at the same time we saw the open door because our eyes had been opened. We knew that somebody was calling us. It probably wasn’t audible, but we heard it in our spirit and we responded to the call. Somehow, we knew the truth in a way we had never known before.
We don’t always hear with our ears the voice of God, nor do we see with our natural eyes. The spiritual world does not operate through our natural senses; therefore, our knowledge of it is not received through the normal channels of perception. Coupled with the written Word, which is hidden in our hearts, this inner voice nudges us in the right direction or gives us a check in our spirit against that which is wrong. We start thinking thoughts that are wise, insightful and in accordance with Scripture. Somehow we know what we are supposed to do or say—and with a sense of confidence that is not natural. Inspiration from God comes with its own authority. God is leading us, and we are following Him.
a few questions to ponder:
On what basis can we be secure in Christ?
How does the Holy Spirit work within in us in conjunction with Scripture?
What are the limitations of our natural senses?
When you “heard” the voice of God calling you to follow Him, how did you know it was God whom you were following?
How can you cultivate the “power to perceive the light of God”?
Neil T. Anderson is the founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He began the ministry in 1989 and continues to spread the message of freedom to this day.