“My sheep know my voice. They follow me, so that they’ll never be lost.” - - John 10:27
The phone call broke her restful sleep. It was after midnight and panic filled Annette’s sluggish mind as she grabbed the receiver. Her heart pounded with dreadful anticipation as she answered, “Hello?”
“Mom?” a voice whispered barely audible over heavy static.
“ . . . and I got so scared! What if I’d been killed without saying goodbye? I want to come home. Running away was wrong. I should’ve called days ago . . . but I was afraid!”
Sobs of deep regret flowed from the receiver. Annette tried to interupt, “I think . . . “
“No! Let me finish,” she pleaded. “I miss you, I want to come home!”
Her husband, sensing trouble, left to listen on a portable phone. The girl must have heard the click in the line because she asked, “Is that you Daddy? Please don't hang up!” They stared at each other, looking for guidance. “I'm here, I wouldn't hang up,” he said.
“Listen please,” the girl continued. You think you have all the answers. But sometimes I don't need answers; I just want you to listen without reacting.”
Annette swallowed hard, “We’re listening,” she whispered in a consoling voice.
“I get it! I know I shouldn’t drink and drive, so I called a taxi. I’m coming home.”
“Thank God!” they both said simultaneously. Her husband sat down beside her and laced his fingers through hers. Only when they heard someone in the background asking about a City Cab did relief wash over them as the phone went silent.
Hand-in-hand they walked down the hall into their 12-year-old daughter's room. Wiping tears from her thankful cheeks, Annette said, “We have to learn to listen!”
He studied her for a brief moment. “Do you think the girl on the phone will ever know she dialed the wrong number?”
Annette looked at her sleeping daughter, then back at him. “Not a wrong number - that must have been His plan!”
It’s like that with God sometimes – we talk, we pray, we ask for help . . . we don’t always listen. Listening to God is different, but He blessed us with many ways of communicating with Him: our conscience; the beauty we see in His awesome world; witnessing His love in others; His written Word; our dreams and visions; and most importantly – His Son Jesus Christ.
Father – Yours is not the only voice we hear. We listen to ourselves, as well as the thoughts of others, angels and evil spirits. Among all the chatter, teach me to hear Your voice for what is moral, fair and Godly. Amen.
