Whose Voice To Listen To

John 10:27,28

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.

A pastor and his friend were returning from Alaska and accepted the offer of a private pilot to fly them to the city of Anchorage where they could connect to go home. They got into the small plane and headed out over the beautiful snow capped mountains but soon entered the clouds where all visibility was zero. Just then, the pilot passed out and did not respond as they shook him.

Neither of the passengers had ever piloted an airplane. They immediately picked up the radio and called for help. Another pilot finally answered and told them he would connect them to the control center where they could get directions. An alert air traffic controller got on the radio and said he could see them on his radar.

They could not see anything except clouds, but he could see their every movement. He told them, "you must listen to my voice or you will not make it. Do everything I tell you and you will live. If you panic, or stop listening to my voice, you will certainly crash. You are heading straight for a mountain, so you must do what I say to get safely out of this." As he gave them instructions, and they followed his voice for hours, he guided them to the airport.

Getting closer he reminded them, "I will guide you in and help you land but you must listen to my voice and obey everything I tell you to do." They flew lower and lower through the clouds not knowing what was below them but they kept doing what the voice instructed. A few hundred feet above the ground, they broke out and saw the runway lights. Under the direction of the voice, they were able to set the plane down and walk away.

You and I have a choice to decide whose voice we will listen to. One of the most important decisions you should make each day is to ignore the thoughts in your head when you wake up. Listening to them could lead you to despondence and even despair. They come from your feelings or your unexplainable dreams or the influence of the world of social media that is lodged in the recesses of your subconscious like a piece of food in between your teeth waiting to rot your gums.

Instead, you must decide to follow the voice of the Lord in order to make it through this life. How can you hear from Him? Get to a quiet place before you start your day and pray. Ask the Lord to speak to you from His Word and give you fresh insights that will apply to things you are going through. Then open your Bible and read for 10 minutes, just 10 minutes, in one book where you can go through each chapter as if you were getting instructions from a manual. I like to return to the Psalms and Proverbs. The Holy Spirit will use that portion set aside for today to speak His thoughts to you and give you direction. Then look for a way to apply what you read. Commit yourself to listen to His voice each morning and obey what He tells you to do.