We recently asked our church folk to submit questions that they wanted a good answer to. Here’s one of these questions, and a good answer:
QUESTION: How do you know when it’s Jesus telling you to follow? (Especially when it feels like a sledge hammer hit you)
ANSWER: Jesus uses the example of a Shepherd and his sheep to help us answer this question …
John 10:14-16 (NLT) “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.”
Knowing Jesus well is the best way to be able to discern, “is this Jesus calling me, or am I following some other influence?” You will know Jesus well when you:
- Spending time in the Bible;
- Include prayer as a sustaining force in your life;
- Listening to positive Christian music;
- and, hang out with other growing Christians.
Also, is the direction Jesus is telling you to go consistent with what we already know to be Godly? Jesus isn’t going to direct you into sin or a situation in which God wouldn’t be honored. Finally, consider this verse:
Psalm 42:1-2, “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God …”
Be sure at your core you are longing desperately to please God, then His voice will be clearer for you.
Have something to say about this answer, or would you like to make this answer better? Contact us.