It was about 3am and here I was again, laying in my bed, eyes wide open. It was the 3rd consecutive night that I had gone to bed at my usual time, which is around 9 or 10pm, and around 3am my eyes shot open. On night number 3 I remember thinking to myself, “Lord, is that You”? Man, I had become so acquainted with that question. See, this use to be a regular routine of mine. I would seek the Lord about something, He would answer, and then I would spend the next couple of days/weeks/months, trying to figure out if what I heard was from me, or from Him. This unproductive routine became second nature until one day I became so sick of myself. Do you ever have those moments where you are just fed up with yourself? Please don’t tell me I’m all alone. Well even if I am, I have them quite often. One particular moment I was so frustrated that I started flipping through my Bible…in search of “the one” scripture that would jump off of the pages and speak to me. I landed at John 10:4.
“When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice”.
My eyes came to a sudden halt when I came across the word, KNOW. I remember thinking to myself, “So, it’s just that simple, huh”. The Scripture doesn’t say, his sheep think they know….or his sheep sometimes know, but it says, his sheep follow him because they KNOW his voice. After pondering on this scripture, I started thinking about people in my life whom’s voice I know without hesitation and I was quickly able to come up with two names…..my mom and dad. If was walking in a crowded place and one of them called out my name, before even turning around, I would know that it was one of them. How? Because I talk to them everyday. On my way to work almost every single morning (still to this day), I call them and talk to them. I cry with them, I laugh with them, I become vulnerable with them, I share with them my concerns and my worries as well as my victories…..you get the point. I KNOW their voice because I KNOW them.
As His sheep, we should always respond by hearing His voice, knowing His voice and then following His voice. However, I have been a part of so many conversations where Christians admit to not knowing the Lord’s voice, which in return leads them on this endless road of trying to figure out, “Lord, is that You”.
I would like to pose some questions to all of you and would love to hear your feedback. Have you found it challenging to hear from the Lord? Do you always know without a shadow of a doubt that its Him speaking to you? Why or why not? If you do hear His voice clearly, can you share with us some specific things you have done in your life to make sure that you hear His voice? How can we as His children ensure that we hear and know His voice each and every time He speaks to us?
So excited to hear from all of you,Antrenette
