How Will I Know Him

"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 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. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."  John 10:1-5

Often we are faced with choices that are difficult to make.  It's funny, what creates the problems in life are generally not the "good verses evil" choices but the "so-so verses ehhh" choices.  As Christians, we often say, "I just want to do God's will for my life . . . but how do I know what He wants me to do?"

This scripture passage answers that question plainly.  We will know what to do because we will hear his voice.  It will be very plain and clear.  You might be feeling a bit frustrated reading this, because you might be struggling to hear his voice.  That's a very common issue for believers, but I have the answer.

There are three steps to recognizing the Shepherds voice.  The first step is to know Him, and know Him well.  The second step is to wait for Him.  And third step is to welcome His answer. 

If you don't recognize His voice . . . you don't know Him well enough.  Plain and simple.  Black and white.  The only way to know His voice is to know HIM.  And there's no easy way around this.  If you can't distinguish His voice from all the other voices around you, then you are struggling to know Him completely.

How do we know Him completely?  We know Him by studying Him, not just reading a few verses several times a week.  Think about when you have fallen in love, and have worked to get to know that person better.  You study him, don't you?  You work to learn his favorite foods, her likes and dislikes, his favorite color, favorite team, etc.  That takes work and purpose!

Yet we act as if we don't need to work to be a Christian.  It IS work - hard work!  It takes discipline, practice, and focus.  Those attributes lead to growth - growth doesn't just happen!  So we study Him, get to know Him better, so that when He does speak, we will be able to distinguish His voice from the noises around us.

The second step is to wait for Him.  Sometimes, when we pray and ask for direction, God doesn't seem to answer right away, so we head out on our own.  We forget that He is always working around us, and He is getting things prepared for us.  The circumstances might not yet be right, so we must be patient and wait upon God. 

There is a saying, a proverb that we have all said (including me), but now I just hate it:  "Whenever God closes a door, He opens a window."  Not true!!  Sometimes God closes the door, locks it, nails it shut, and tells you to stay there and wait!  How do I know?  Isaiah 40:31:  "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."  We get to WAIT for Him.  We GET to wait for Him.  It's a privilege, not a punishment.

We need to change the way we view waiting for God.  Just because He is not speaking to you now doesn't mean that He is never going to speak.  Don't be so impatient for His voice that you miss it completely.

Finally, we need to welcome His answer.  There are times that we are not going to like the direction God is going to give us.  (He knows that, by the way.)  So we can ignore the voice that we hear, telling ourselves it's not God, that's not what I want to do!!  But it IS Him! 

Our pastor this morning spoke of a ten day fast he did in college.  He was praying about three specific things - a girlfriend, a job, and singing opportunity.  At the end of the ten day fast, he hadn't heard answers from God at all.  He was frustrated!  But on the 11th day, he clearly heard from God - and received not one of the things he wanted!  However, it wasn't too long before he could look back and see how God was creating good things for him, and if he would have gotten what he thought he wanted, he would have been miserable.

You know, sometimes we just need to suck it up and let God be God!  We need to quit whining and worrying about what we want, and be totally sold out to His will, His desires, His ways.  Those are the only things that are going to get us anywhere, anyway! 

Jesus' story about the sheep hearing his voice reminds me of Lady Wisdom in the book of Proverbs.  In chapter 1, verses 20-21, it says:  "Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares;  at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech."

The voice of wisdom - God's voice - is calling to us all the time.  It takes practice to hear Him.  Are you willing to do what it takes to let Him be your shepherd?