An Ear to Hear
Do you ever struggle to hear the voice of the Lord? If so, your not alone. I couldn’t tell you how often people share with me that they have difficulty with this very thing, not to mention the many times I’ve personally struggled in this area. Though as I have walked with the Lord I’ve learned that not only can I hear the voice of the Lord, but that He is speaking more often than I know. In John 10:27 Jesus says: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” So lets start by settling the fact that if you’re a true follower of Christ aka “a sheep” you can hear the voice of the Lord!
Over the last number of years I have found that often when I have struggled to hear, it is because I didn’t get quite and listen. I let the cares of this life, busyness, or distractions flood my mind throughout the day or even when I set time aside to spend with the Lord in private. Remember, 1 Peter 5:7 says: “cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.” Lay your cares and worries at the feet of Jesus, let them go, and set your mind on the Lord. We also need to learn to be still in the presence of God, and instead of always having something to say, let us listen. God is speaking, but are we getting quite enough to hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit?
Don’t get me wrong, God knows how to get your attention if He needs to, but let us live so that God doesn’t have to shout to do so! Let us keep our minds on God and what He is doing, for Isaiah 26:3 says: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”
Another reason we often miss what the Lord is saying is because often there are areas of our lives that aren’t surrendered to Him. There is a line in a worship song I was listening to recently that helps to explain what I mean. The line of the song says: “I cannot hear Your voice, above my will...” Often times we have predetermined what our day looks like, what we are going to do and what we aren’t going to do, and we are unwilling (knowingly or unknowingly) to bend our will to the voice of the Lord. So even if He is speaking, we aren’t listening.
An example of this, lets say I just finished work and I got off a little late and I’m in a hurry to get home to make dinner. I need to swing by the grocery store to get a few things and as I’m making a beeline over to the produce section I pass a man that the Lord would have me buy his groceries and tell him how much Jesus loves Him. The Lord would have me tell him that, “God so loved the world that He gave His only son to die for my sin and all who put their faith in Christ and in so doing He paid the debt I owed for my sin and restored me to relationship with the Father. Therefore, just as God so loved that He gave, I want to so love that I give as well.”
That may be what the Lord is wanting to do in and through my life by speaking to me to stop and buy that man groceries. Am I living surrendered so that I’m able or even willing to hear the voice of the Lord in those moments? Am I living with a singular desire to do the will of the Father? Or have I predetermined what my life will look like and am I the master of my own day by choosing to follow my own will (intentionally or unintentionally) rather than considering God’s will for my life each moment?
At the end of the story of the woman at the well, Jesus said in John 4:34, “... My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” Jesus was responding to the disciples who had just offered Him food, we know from John 4:6 that Jesus was wearied from his journey and thirsty, He was most likely hungry as well. Jesus set aside his desire to eat in that moment that he might minister to a woman in need, and in so doing He fulfilled the will of the Father. Christ lived to do the will of His Father in heaven. That was food to Him; that fulfilled Him and satisfied Him more than bread ever could.
Just like any relationship, our relationship with the Lord will grow deeper through time spent together. Yes, the Lord never leaves us, though to grow in your relationship it is important that you spend personal time with God, praying, reading the Bible, in praise, in worship, as well as fellowship with other believers who will help you to grow in God! As our relationship grows with God we will better learn to hear and recognize the voice of the Lord. Let us be a people who live to do the will of our Father in heaven, walking in constant communion with God. May we be a people who listen to the voice of our Shepherd and follow!
Blessings,
~Timothy Glasgo