John 10:27-28 My sheep know my voice, and I know them. They follow me, and I give them eternal life so that they will never be lost. No one can snatch them out of my hand.
It is important that we grow in our ability to recognize God’s voice – not occasionally, but daily as we walk with Him. One of the most memorable stories in the Old Testament is when Samuel comes to the old prophet Eli one night, thinking he was calling him. The third time round, Eli instructs the young Samuel to respond – ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening’ if the Lord should call him again. What followed was that the Lord shared with this young man the judgment that was coming to the house of Eli for failing to correct his sons. It came to pass just as the Lord had spoken.
Our success in walking with God is predicated on our ability to hear and walk in obedience. God longs for this posture in a man. He wants to lead us in the path of righteousness for His name’s sake (Psalms 23:3). Our accomplishing well is His delight. When we hear Him and obey Him, success is guaranteed; the success that is defined by doing His will, however joyous, hard, painful, delightful, obscure, or public. Jesus Christ is the perfect example of this – going all the way to the cross despite what it cost Him to fulfill His Father’s will. He succeeded because He knew His Father’s voice and He followed Him all the way to Calvary.
So, we too are invited to the adventure of learning to recognize His voice and following Him. How might He speak?
Through His Word (Joshua 1:8, Psalms 119:105).
Through His still small voice & the peace of God that calms our souls (Isaiah 30:2, Colossians 3:15).
Through the circumstances He orchestrates in our lives (Ephesians 1:11).
Through the wise counsel of ones in whom His Spirit dwells (Proverbs 11:14, 12:15,15:22).
Through working in us to will and do His good purpose (Philippians 2:13).
This is by no means an exhaustive list of how He speaks but we know that when we walk intimately with Him, we learn to hear Him whichever way He speaks. It is a comfort to know that He is with us all the time so that even if we take the wrong turn, He readily brings us back to line.
Look at the promises given in our focus scripture about hearing His voice and following Him. Our relationship with Him is secure – He knows us! Then, we have eternal life – which means the life of God that can never diminish or fade flows through us to assure that we will never fall away from Him. Isn’t it also of such comfort that no one can ever snatch us out of His hand?