It’s About Relationship

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that my devotional book title for this year is Hearing His Voice.  As I’ve been reading those devotionals daily, there have been some very enlightening & inspirational thoughts & ideas.  As a result, I’m sure I’ll be sharing more about this topic as I move through the year. 

But then this morning on Facebook, a short video came up from a Pastor that I follow – his Facebook page is Trent Tribe.  He posts little snippets regularly & I love his relaxed, encouraging, down-to-earth approach to sharing God’s Word.  So low and behold, his message this morning was about hearing God’s voice.  Imagine that!  Needless to say, it got my attention.

He talked about how if we want to hear God’s voice, we need to learn to listen to that voice within us – not all the voices around us.  We hear that voice by developing a strong relationship with God so that it’s easier to recognize it.  He said “It’s all about relationship – the more we grow in that relationship with Him the easier it is to discern when it’s Him.” 

So how do we grow in relationships?  If we want to have a strong relationship with someone, we have to get to know more about them, right?  If we don’t learn more & more about the person then they really are nothing more than an acquaintance.  (The Cambridge dictionary defines acquaintance as:  “a person that you have met but do not know well.”)  

Let’s just say you’re in a crowd & an acquaintance calls out to you from across the noisy room.  I believe the likelihood of their voice getting your attention is pretty small because you probably won’t recognize it.  You might glance around but then will likely ignore it. But if in that same crowd, a friend that you have a close relationship with calls out to you, you’re likely to hear & recognize their voice then respond.  So that scenario would seem to indicate that it is about relationship.

I’ve talked before about how I believe you can get to know God better – how to build that relationship from the acquaintance stage to a more intimate stage.  I believe the very best way is to read His Word faithfully.  If you’ll make a habit of spending some time each day with your Bible, you will get to know Him well and it will make it easier to know His voice.

This all brought to my mind this verse when Jesus said:  “‘I am the Good Shepherd…’”  (John 10:11a TLB)  Then these verses: “For a shepherd comes through the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice and come to him; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. He walks ahead of them; and they follow him, for they recognize his voice.”  “My sheep recognize my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”  John 10:2-4 & 10:27 (TLB)

Okay, so then my mind started down these rabbit trails.  (1) I thought about how I’ve heard so much about how stupid sheep are.  Are they really?  (2) Then I thought about a story someone once told about how they had been in Israel & witnessed a large pasture with several different flocks of sheep.  One shepherd began calling out to his sheep & while the others continued to graze, his sheep started toward him & followed him.  What would happen if a total stranger tried to call the sheep with that shepherd’s personal call?  (3) Then I wondered about how the shepherds are able to train their sheep to recognize only their voice?  So of course, I had to do some research to answer those questions.  Here’s some things I discovered.  

One site called Savvy Farm Life* talked about how studies have shown that sheep aren’t just “empty-headed livestock animals” – that they are complex in their behaviors & emotions.  The article explained that although sheep are vulnerable to predators they do have ways of staying alert,  aware of danger & capable of moving quickly to try to escape.  They are social animals & that along with their natural vulnerabilities cause them to flock together when grazing & resting.  “Sheep can also form attachments to their handlers.  They will learn to recognize the person who feeds them.  They will also grow more fond and trusting of people they see on a regular basis.”  The article goes on to talk about how intelligent sheep really are & they give some interesting examples.  This rings true to me, because it doesn’t seem like they could be as stupid as they’re perceived to be if they can easily recognize the voice of their single shepherd to the exclusion of all the other shepherds.  Okay, #1 down.

I then watched a video where there was a flock of sheep & a shepherd.  A group of people were there & three different people attempted to call for the sheep using the call of the shepherd – but they just continued to graze, totally ignoring the people.  When the shepherd started calling them, they started looking toward him then following him.  In another video the shepherd called & a couple of the sheep came to him immediately for a snack he was offering, but a stranger was there & as soon as they tried to speak to the sheep & offer the snack they ran away.  Okay, #2 down.

From International Orality Network**  “A key idea to understand here is that sheep respond to a voice and a word they recognize…they’ll trust a shepherd they know.  If someone they don’t know tries to herd them with words they don’t understand, they will run away in fear.  When they hear the voice and words they know, they respond in trust.”  (John 10:5 TLB – “‘They won’t follow a stranger but will run from him, for they don’t recognize his voice.’”)

And, from All of the Animals.com*** They had some very interesting facts to share about how sheep can recognize their shepherd’s voice, but this quote kind of wraps it up: “It is important to note that sheep have the ability to distinguish their own shepherd’s voice from the voices of other shepherds. Each shepherd has a unique tone or way of calling their sheep, and the sheep become attuned to this specific voice. This helps them differentiate their shepherd’s voice from other sounds in their environment.”  In other words, they respond to the voice they know but ignore all the other voices around them.  Now, #3 is down.

I feel like I’m really rambling today as I try to formulate this article.  I asked God to help me pull it together but not sure I’m hearing His voice right now.  Sigh!  I guess to wrap it up I’ll just encourage you once again to get into God’s Word regularly to learn more & more about Him, building that relationship. Then listen to that voice within – not all the noise going on around you – not all the other sounds in your environment that are trying to distract you.  That is likely the enemy you know.  When it doesn’t seem right – run from it until you can be assured that what drops in your heart is from God.

Written by Karran Martin – January 17, 2025

[All bold emphasis is mine]

*https://savvyfarmlife.com/sheep-behavior/

**https://orality.net/content/sheep-listen-to-their-shepherd/

***https://alloftheanimals.com/how-do-sheep-recognize-their-shepherd-s-voice/