“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father- and I lay down my life for the sheep…” John 10:14
If you have time this week, I encourage you to read all of John Chapter 10. I had a hard time choosing a snapshot to insert here. You see, this chapter is about a Shepherd who knows His flock.
Close your eyes and picture yourself as a sheep in a pasture with your Shepherd. As you read through the rest of this message, read it with this picture in your mind.
You know your Shepherd’s voice, with no doubt, no questioning, no hesitation. He leads you. He shows you where to eat, where to drink. He teaches you where to go. He protects you. He loves you. He lays His life down for you.
If you hear the voice of a stranger, you may actually run the other direction. But, because you know your Shepherd’s voice, you may draw close.
In the quiet, in the busyness, in the stress and in the chaos, learn your Shepherd’s voice. How, you ask? By spending time with Him, by being in His Word. This is how we learn our Shepherd’s voice. We learn how to follow Him to the water that makes us thirst no more, to the food that nourishes our soul. We learn to hear Him say “go”. We learn to hear Him say “stay”. The questioning becomes less and less, the doubt becomes smaller.
In your life, in your situation, in your place, spend time with your Shepherd, your Lord, your Jesus this week. Asking Him to speak so you can practice listening. Then when you do hear him, act on what He says!
I pray that Jesus speaks to your heart this week. That He speaks to the cry of your heart. That you can create space to listen in the quietness and can have one ear to Him in the chaos. Come Holy Spirit, may my sister hear You today! Amen.