Yesterday morning, a handful of us had the opportunity to spend some time with Gabe Sanchez who is on staff with Adventures in Missions and works at the base here in Guatemala. Gabe is a former World Racer and has now been working in Guatemala for about 4 years. He has so much wisdom and knowledge and has poured into our lives over this past month.
We began talking about how to listen to God’s voice and discerning it. And I’ll admit, I struggle with listening to what the Lord is saying to me. I always have a hard time figuring out if it’s really God speaking to me or if it’s just words that I make up in my head. And so as we were all discussing this, Gabe quickly turned to scripture.
In John 10 it says, “I assure you: Anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the door but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. The doorkeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t recognize the voice of strangers.”
What stuck out to me is “the sheep will follow him because they recognize his voice.”
And so as we thought, discussed, and reflected, I realized that I already know what God’s voice sounds like. I know this because I’m rooted in his love, grace, and forgiveness. So the problem isn’t that I don’t know what God’s voice sounds like, it’s I’m afraid to step out and trust what God is saying to me.
As the passage continues it says “They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t recognize the voice of strangers”
There’s certainly going to be thoughts, words, or visions that aren’t from the Lord that will enter my head. There will be things that I think are from the Lord, that just aren’t. But beautiful thing is even if I do follow those thoughts or words, scripture says I’ll “run away” or in other words, turn around and go the other direction.
So as I continue to reflect on what we talked about that morning, I now understand that my problem isn’t knowing what God’s voice sounds like or if it’s my own voice getting in my head. It’s putting all my trust in following God’s voice or vision, understanding that I may not get it right all the time. And also understanding that if I do go down the wrong path, I will turn around and go the right way, because I am a child of god.
As month 3 is just about to start, I’m going to challenge myself to fully commit to whatever God speaks to me. To 100% trust in what I hear and to step out in boldness, knowing I may step in the wrong direction. And to remember that when I do start going the wrong direction, God will be there to redirect me and put me on the right path.
God has been doing some amazing things throughout my World Race journey and I can’t wait to see what he does next!
With love,
Will
