Column: Make time now

By Editor | September 17, 2023 |

I was sleeping peacefully one night when a large thud awoke me. There was pressure on my head, and I quickly discovered that it was fur-covered. In my sleepy state, I panicked. My first thought was that surely someone had broken into our home and thrown a furry blanket over my head. I quickly realized, however, that our dog had grown lonely in the night and decided that he wanted to sleep on my pillow. It was just unfortunate for me that my head was already there.

Three years ago, my husband brought our dog Bo home as a surprise. The surprise wasn’t just that a new puppy had come to live with us — it was that this puppy doubled in size every week! I’ve never had a dog with more energy than Bo. There were days when I thought I may lose my mind chasing after him. Fortunately, Chad put long hours into training Bo. When my husband is home, Bo is a well-behaved dog. When my husband is gone? Well, that’s a different story.

On this particular night I began to thrash around. “Mphhh BO!” I yelled from underneath him. I swung my arms around trying to get my husband’s attention. He slept peacefully beside me while I gasped for air. Finally, a swift kick to his shin woke him up. My struggles meant nothing, but one word from Chad solved the problem. “Bo,” he quietly said. Bo got up, hopped off the bed, and returned air to my lungs.

Is it infuriating to have a dog that only listens to Chad? Absolutely. But here’s the thing: Bo knows his master, and he listens to his voice. Bo spent hours as a puppy learning to walk beside Chad. Now he doesn’t need a leash. Chad’s voice is enough to command him. Bo trusts that voice and he comes when he calls. I can offer him all the treats in the world, but he’s loyal first and foremost to his master.

John 10 paints a picture of Jesus as our shepherd. Not just any shepherd … a GOOD shepherd who wants to give his sheep life. The sheep must only listen to his voice. He warns us that other voices may try to draw us away, but John 10:4 says that “his sheep follow him because they know his voice.” How do they know his voice? He says, “I know my sheep, and my sheep know me.”

Our creator wants to have a relationship with us. So how do we get to know him?

We learn to listen to his voice.

Listening to the voice of God does not have to be mysterious. We can do it by spending time with him, just like Bo did with Chad. The more time we spend listening to God, the more we will learn to trust him. The more we trust him, the more we follow his direction. And the more we follow is direction, the more in tune we are to hear him again. Life can be full of distractions that will drown that voice out. But if we learn to listen, God will guide us. We can learn the voice of God through reading and listening to his word, prayer and spending time with others who will encourage us in our walk with him. We also have to make the choice to actually listen, which means we eliminate distractions and give God our focus.

As we all dive into another school year with all of its activities, followed by the holiday season, our calendars will fill up. I encourage you to make time now in your schedule to listen to the voice of God so that when he calls, you are ready to answer.