My Shepherd

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 recognise His voice. They never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don't recognise the voice of strangers. John 10:3-5

Do I recognise the voice of the shepherd? I find He speaks so quietly these days. So quietly if fact that I miss hearing or appreciating the importance of His suggestion or guidance.

I was speaking to someone on Sunday and said the exact same thing, His voice is almost, barely audible.

I then referred to fathers. The woman I spoke to said that she had grown up not respecting her father because he never seemed to stand up to her mother. I said to her, "perhaps he did speak but spoke quietly and she did not listen." This observation caused my friend to marry someone more like her mother, a dominant bully. Of course that decision had repercussions.

My friends father was a shepherd, which she now appreciates. Can we, as Christians, likewise reject our shepherd because of wrong believing? Yes! In fact it happens a lot. We have been trained to hear a bully's voice instead of the quiet, loving voice.

I am now learning to hear the quiet loving voice. Again and again I am amazed at how loving is my shepherd and how consistently faithful He is. He does lead me out and goes ahead of me. He does not expect me to make my own way. He is out there investigating the path and choosing the right direction.

Over the last two days I had been stressing about my quarterly business activity report to the tax office. I had mistakenly thought I had to pay more tax than I actually do. Now I knew that my God always gives me enough for my needs yet there seemed a discrepancy. The discrepancy was mine. As I waited on Him the answer came. It was there all along but I could not see it.

In my life I find it so important that I wait on Him and allow Him to lead. He does it right, He does it good.

When I fret it is because I have the wrong end of the stick, so to speak. He has the correct view and I need to trust Him. Amen!