Don't make God a stranger (talk to Him!)
For many of us, God is a stranger when it comes to His voice. We don't spend time listening and talking to Him. Therefore, we don't recognize His voice when He does speak to us.
I like to think about the complexities of how we were created and stand in awe of God. Most recently I was thinking about how each person on this entire earth has a different voice/sound to him or her. These sounds and voices come from all over, whether it is a thick southern accent by my friends in Tennessee or a Latino accent from my friends in Miami. Whoever it is, when I hear them, I know who it is immediately.
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I started to think about it and realized that it’s not just our voice that is unique, but it is a combination of many things that allow us to be picked out from a crowd. Perhaps you can recognize your friend from far away because of the way he or she is walking. Maybe you recognize their handwriting or their writing style. The point is that our fingerprint is not the only thing unique about us. God made our voice unique because He created us in His image.
Jesus has a very distinct voice as well.
Jesus gives an analogy in John chapter 10 to this point about a shepherd and his sheep. He talks about how sheep know the shepherd’s voice and will follow the shepherd. He also talks about how they will run away from a stranger because they don’t recognize his voice.
I have heard the first part of that many times and used the analogy before, but it scared me to think about the latter part of that verse. What if people don’t know God’s voice, and all this time have been running away from God thinking they were running from a stranger? The simple fact is that we need to know the voice of Jesus as well as we would the voice of a friend or parent. Accomplishing that is easier than you may think, spend more time with Him, just as you would a friend. The more time you spend with God (whatever that looks like), the easier it will become to recognize and respond when He calls you. Don’t be caught running away from the God of the universe when He is calling you to love and bless you.
"The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his 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 10:3-5
I encourage you to spend time listening and talking with God today. Don't make Him a stranger in your life!
