My Dad died in 2009 and for a long time afterwards, I used to call his phone number. It would go to voicemail and I’d get to hear his voice again. I missed his voice and it was comforting to be able to hear it again. A couple of years later, the phone number was disconnected and that recording was lost. Now, it’s getting harder and harder to remember what his voice sounded like. It’s easy to pick out voices when we hear them every day, but when we stop listening, we stop being able to remember what they sound like.
My son, when he was younger, used to come and press his head right up against my chest. He would get so close that, when I spoke, he could hear the sound of my voice reverberating through both of our bodies. Even now, when we’re worshipping in church, he’ll come up and stand in front of me, head resting against me as I sing. He loves hearing the sound of my voice echoing through us.
We recognise the voices of those that we know well. We love the voices of those we come close to. Jesus calls himself the good shepherd and says “the sheep follow him, for they know his voice” (John 10:4). The sheep know the voice of the shepherd because they’ve spent their lives with him, listening to his call and drawing close to him. They follow his voice because they know that he cares for them. They only need to trust one voice.
Do you know the sound of Jesus’s voice? Do you recognise the voice of your shepherd? Can you distinguish it from all the other voices that want to speak into your life?
If you can’t, I’d encourage you to spend more time with him. Get to know him better. Come so close to him that you can feel his voice echoing through you.
One of my favourite songs is “Goodness of God”. In particular, I like the lines “I love Your voice, you have led me through the fire, and in darkest night, You are close like no other. I've known You as a Father. I've known You as a Friend”. These words tell us what it is like to know and be known by our good father.
A good father knows what his kids need to hear. He won’t sound the same to every person. It’s not a generic voice. It’s different in each season. What does he sound like to you? What is his voice saying in this season? What do you need to hear from him?
One of the ways we hear his voice is by reading it. The voice of the spirit whispers through the words we read in scripture. Who do you know who doesn’t know the sound of his voice? Sign them up for a Bible so they can hear from him too.
