I am finalizing my sermon for this Wednesday night and the final week of our PLANTED series at H2O. It has been an incredible journey for me and brought me personally closer to my Father than I could have ever expected.
This week I am preaching on hearing the voice of God. I have had so many of our students say that they do not know how to hear the voice of God, or they are unsure if it is God. I had the really cool privilege of hanging out with a bunch of CLS high school students a couple weeks ago during the Underground Small Group and this topic was brought up 5 or 6 times in our discussion and it has had me thinking alot!
Why is this so tough for us? Why can't it be easier? Why do so many students struggle with this one? Why do I struggle hearing God's voice at times?
John 10:2-5 says, “For a shepherd enters through the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they recognize his voice.”
If we truly consider ourselves 'His sheep' should we not know and recognize His voice clearly and distinctly? It should simply be a matter of RECOGNIZING, KNOWING and FOLLOWING. But why is it not always this easy? I think it is because of several reasons.
1. I think our lives are TOO CLUTTERED! I think we have too much noise, too much going on, too much distraction. At the end of the day, we just don't have time to sit and listen. Period. I am a firm believer that God is ALWAYS speaking. My question is: Are we listening? Or are we too busy and too cluttered and too distracted?
There was a dude in Numbers 22 that had that problem, by the name of Balaam. God kept trying to speak to him and give him direction and he was just to busy or distracted to hear. So guess what God did? He spoke through the dudes DONKEY! Ha! I think that is hilarious! SO, who is God speaking to because you are not listening?
2. I think many of us are just baby sheep in this area and just are unsure of ourselves and need to be trained to hear our Master's voice and how to distinguish it from all the other voices that try to lead us away. Samuel was a young sheep that needed to be trained by Eli. In 1 Samuel chapter 3, Eli teaches Samuel how to hear and respond to God's voice. He says, "Go back and BE SILENT and when God calls your name, say speak Lord for your servant is listening." Just as Samuel needed to be taught and trained, we as young sheep need to be trained and learn to hear our Master's voice. We need to learn to be silent and we need to learn to respond by saying "Speak Lord, your servant is listening".
What is your reasons? What are your excuses? How often do you take time to listen? How cluttered and noisy does your life look right now? Does your life look like that of someone that wants to hear the voice of God?
