Recognizing the True Father's Voice: Lessons from My Earthly Dad's Accident and John 10
I was in the seventh grade when my dad broke his neck. He fell off a horse he was training, and our lives were never the same.
Thanks to the mercy of God, my dad experienced no paralysis or drastic damage except that it can be difficult for him to look behind him. One of the side effects, however, is that he often drags his feet in certain shoes, he has a distinct walk, and I can recognize his steps from a mile away.
Similar to his steps, I can recognize his yawn from down the street (it's that loud), his laugh, his sneeze, and his voice. I can do this because I have spent a lot of time with my father. I have listened to many stories, shared many laughs, and hidden from many a sneeze!
In John 10 Jesus refers to himself as a shepherd: "The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers” (John 10:3-5, ESV).
This beautiful portion of scripture is a constant reminder that, if I am going to follow my Heavenly Father, I need to spend time with Him so I can know His voice, like I have my earthly father. But I don't want to miss out on the important truth near the end of this passage where Jesus says that we will not follow a stranger because we do not know the voice of strangers.
I often think of how familiar the enemy's voice is to me. I would like him to be more of a stranger in my life, that's for sure. Sadly, for many of us, our relationships with our earthly fathers may have had challenges, and because of that, we have been fathered by the father of lies, Satan. We may even find his voice has become more familiar because we've heard his lies for so long.
There is no better time to start learning our true Father's voice, than today! We do this by 1.) reading the Word and learning his character 2.) spending time in prayer and listening for Him and 3.) rejecting the lies of the enemy so they become the voice of a stranger we will not follow!
May it be so!
Meet the Author
Allicia Bankuti
Allicia Bankuti lives in Westport, Ontario and has been serving full-time with an inner healing ministry for 12 years. After walking a journey of healing and restoration in her own life, Allicia realized she was dissatisfied with what the world had to offer and gave up her dream of being in advertising to pursue God full time in ministry. Allicia’s heart is to see people of all ages passionately run after God and to see His love and healing reach a broken world. When she isn’t teaching or ministering, Allicia can be found watching cheesy Hallmark films (seriously, the cheesier the better), photographing weddings or on a basketball court with her wonderful boyfriend and his two amazing boys.
