Friday, May 16, 2008

Little Lost Sheep




"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 can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." John 10:27-30


Sometimes I feel like I'm a little lost sheep. I know the voice that I need to follow. I know the voice of God, yet sometimes I have trouble listening to it. I tend to listen to every other voice that speaks to me; satan's voice, the voices of others, even my own voice. For a while now, I have been driven by just about every voice, but the voice of Jesus. I'm really trying to figure out why I have trouble trusting God. I tend to look at him like I look at my earthly dad. When I was a kid, my dad left. Now, my dad is a major influence in my life, yet I still can't shake the fact that he left when I was a child and today I am convinced that someday God will leave too. Even though God's word says he will never leave me, nor forsake me; even though it says that no one can snatch me from his hand, I am still convinced that at some point God will no longer be there. This really bugs me. This is the number one thing that holds me back from being everything God has called me to be. I can't ever be effective in ministry if I'm not connected to the Lord. I can't grow closer to God if I don't trust Him. This creates quite the dilema. Somehow, I have got to learn to trust the Lord. The Scripture above says that his sheep know his voice and follow Him. I believe that somewhere in me, I know his voice. But the voices that tell me that God can't be trusted seem to overpower it. I tend to listen to the louder voice and that creates a little problem being that the voice of the God is a small still voice. I've got to learn to quiet my own voice, set aside the voices of others who tear me down, and rebuke the voice of satan if I'm going to be able to hear God. I use to hear His voice all the time. It was comforting. When I can hear the voice of God, I believe with my whole heart that no one can snatch me from his hand. I really want to get to that place again. I don't know why I am so consumed with fear, but it really is destroying me. I really just need to get over this, but seriously, how do you do that? A lot of people say to me, "well just learn to trust God" GREAT! Does anyone have a step by step solution on how to trust God? Is there an easy 1, 2, 3 to growing in a deeper relationship with Him? Is there a quick fix on going from being afraid of God to having a healthy fear of Him? I'm really getting tired of where I am at in this battle. I want to be able to hear his voice and follow him. I want to trust that he will never leave me, nor forsake me. I want to be able to believe that no one can snatch me from his hands. I've rambled today, but I'm just so frustrated. I need answers.

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