His Voice

I got a phone call from my husband the other day.  I needed that.  He was  away for a few days at a conference in Kansas City.  We don't like being  apart but sometimes it can't be helped.   When he is away I try to keep busy doing my own thing and not dwelling on the fact that he's not here.  It's when I stop and think about it that all of a sudden the ache of missing him comes.  His phone call just happened to come at one of those moments.  Sometimes you just need to hear their voice and everything within you feels better.  Funny how they don’t even need to physically be here but you can feel them if you close your eyes.   It made me think about how it's that way (or should be) with God.   As you become more intimate with him and allow him to be your all in all you can feel that comfort…..security….. even relief….when you hear his voice and you can have a peace no matter what is going on around you.

The word talks about how the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name.  He knows them and they follow him.

3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 "When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 "A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." - John 10:3-5 NASB
 

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;"  - John 10:27 NASB
 
Reading that and remembering times when I have felt God and heard from him in different ways gives me such hope and peace.  When things get crazy at work or the bills are extra tight...or I am feeling alone and not quite myself I know that I can call out to him and he hears me.  He knows me by name and I listen for his comforting voice.....that "knowing" that he is right there with me no matter how I am feeling or what has happened.  Maybe it's a song on the radio or a scripture or quote I read.  When you spend time with God you know when he is speaking to you.
 
I feel these same things with my husband. 
 
What is the difference? 
 
God is perfect.  He knew me before I was even formed in my mother's womb.  He knows the number of hairs on my head and only God can fulfill my deepest desires.....because he put them there for a purpose. 
 
13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.     - Psalm 139:13-16 NASB
 
My husband James is a wonderful Godly man, my best friend, lover, and confidant!  God brought James and I together and he is one of the best gifts that God has ever given me; yet I would be wrong to expect James to be able to do what only God can do.  God uses James to comfort me and to pray for me....to heal me and speak to me all the time but this is not to take the place of my time with God.....just the two of us. 
 
I have to be intentional about spending time with God.  We all should be.  It's not a relationship that just maintains itself.  To know God I have to read his word and spend time in prayer with him.

 I am also intentional about my relationship with James.  It's all about keeping things in balance.  Just like in any relationship you can feel when you need to spend a little more time or when you are missing the other person.  We can feel that with God.  He draws and woos us to himself.  The more you read his word and spend time in prayer and rest in him.....you learn to hear his voice and start even listening for it.  Then when you hear it.....you can feel the comfort that you are longing for. 

His presence to me can feel like the warmth of the sun on your skin or being wrapped in that favorite blanket you had (or have).  The peace that passes all understanding.  You feel his presence all around you and it strengthens you and gives you energy to go on.  God is the only one that can give you exactly what you need when you need it.  God is the ultimate hero.  Let him be yours!
 
Have you stopped and taken the time to listen for his voice today?  

Can you feel him with you? 

If not.....seek him....spend time with him and build that relationship so you can rest in him!  It will change your life!!

Blessings!

-Gina