Discerning God's Voice
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in by some other way is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own 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.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. — John 10:1–6 (NIV)
Discerning the voice of the Holy Spirit can be difficult. When I was younger, I grew up in churches that rarely talked about the Holy Spirit. We believed in Him, but we didn’t really talk about Him. We knew He existed, but most of our focus was on God the Father and God the Son. It wasn’t until later in life that I began learning about the Holy Spirit, and I started to see how active He had been in every season of my life.
In John 10, Jesus confronts the Pharisees and follows up with the parable of the Good Shepherd. This story stood out to me in two ways: “They follow him because they know his voice” and “They will never follow a stranger.” How often have I allowed the “thief” or “robber” to lead me into things that were never intended for me? How familiar am I with God’s voice?
The Stranger’s Voice
This parable speaks deeply to the Christian life and the daily struggle to fulfill God’s purpose for us. Jesus explains later in the chapter that when we accept Him into our hearts, we come under His covering—the covering of the Good Shepherd. He is the gate. He leads us, guides us, and is fully invested in our lives.
But along the way, other voices creep in—social media, toxic relationships, harmful influences—and we begin to give them authority. There are so many distractions in our world that discerning God’s voice can feel overwhelming. The static is loud. It’s easy to be led down a different path when we turn up the volume on these competing voices. Some of them even pretend to be the voice of God, subtly luring us away from our true purpose.
So how do we prevent that from happening?
The Good Shepherd
We must spend time with the Good Shepherd. How can we recognize His voice if we’ve never listened to Him?
When someone close to me calls, I know immediately who they are. Why? Because I’ve spent time with them. I’ve trusted them with both small things and deeply personal matters. They’ve spoken into my life, and I’ve submitted myself to their wisdom. The same is true of our relationship with God.
As I spend time with Him, talk to Him, and submit to His guidance, I become more familiar with who He is and with how He speaks into my life. We need to invest in our relationship with God during the still, quiet, and peaceful seasons, so that when chaos comes, we can still hear His voice clearly through the noise.
When we are familiar with the voice of God, we can be confident in what He is saying and doing in our lives. That familiarity builds trust. And God has proven time and again how faithful He is in every season. I’ve often heard Pastor Aaron talk about “tuning into the frequency of God.” In order to do that, we have to tune out all the other noise so we can hear Him more clearly.
Respond:
Discerning the voice of the Holy Spirit can be difficult. When I was younger, I grew up in churches that rarely talked about the Holy Spirit. We believed in Him, but we didn’t really talk about Him. We knew He existed, but most of our focus was on God the Father and God the Son. It wasn’t until later in life that I began learning about the Holy Spirit, and I started to see how active He had been in every season of my life.
In John 10, Jesus confronts the Pharisees and follows up with the parable of the Good Shepherd. This story stood out to me in two ways: “They follow him because they know his voice” and “They will never follow a stranger.” How often have I allowed the “thief” or “robber” to lead me into things that were never intended for me? How familiar am I with God’s voice?
The Stranger’s Voice
This parable speaks deeply to the Christian life and the daily struggle to fulfill God’s purpose for us. Jesus explains later in the chapter that when we accept Him into our hearts, we come under His covering—the covering of the Good Shepherd. He is the gate. He leads us, guides us, and is fully invested in our lives.
But along the way, other voices creep in—social media, toxic relationships, harmful influences—and we begin to give them authority. There are so many distractions in our world that discerning God’s voice can feel overwhelming. The static is loud. It’s easy to be led down a different path when we turn up the volume on these competing voices. Some of them even pretend to be the voice of God, subtly luring us away from our true purpose.
So how do we prevent that from happening?
The Good Shepherd
We must spend time with the Good Shepherd. How can we recognize His voice if we’ve never listened to Him?
When someone close to me calls, I know immediately who they are. Why? Because I’ve spent time with them. I’ve trusted them with both small things and deeply personal matters. They’ve spoken into my life, and I’ve submitted myself to their wisdom. The same is true of our relationship with God.
As I spend time with Him, talk to Him, and submit to His guidance, I become more familiar with who He is and with how He speaks into my life. We need to invest in our relationship with God during the still, quiet, and peaceful seasons, so that when chaos comes, we can still hear His voice clearly through the noise.
When we are familiar with the voice of God, we can be confident in what He is saying and doing in our lives. That familiarity builds trust. And God has proven time and again how faithful He is in every season. I’ve often heard Pastor Aaron talk about “tuning into the frequency of God.” In order to do that, we have to tune out all the other noise so we can hear Him more clearly.
Respond:
- What would you say in your life is noise or a distraction that keeps you from growing closer to God?
- Is there anything that scares you about being alone and quiet with God?
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