Knowing His Voice

“My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” // John 10:27

I expected something flashy. I mean, I knew better than to think that God would simply descend from on high and split the church ceiling right then and there as I sat before the tabernacle, fidgeting with a loose string on my scarf and worrying about my future, again. 

But still. Was it so much to ask for just a bit of clarity? 

Earning my doctorate has often felt like a strangely out-of-time experience, passing in a blissful haze of mornings spent ensconced in the library, and afternoons nursing a second (or third, or fourth) cup of tea. But with just one year left, the dull background murmur of anxiety about my career is becoming a siren wail. Some days, I just want God to appear before me—plainly—and tell me in no uncertain terms where to go next.

But that’s not how He speaks to me. More often, I hear Him in the gentle tugging of my heartstrings when I read something that moves me deeply, or in the profound joy that comes from helping a student analyze a tricky poem during office hours. These whispers of the Lord in my heart, so easily missed if I’m not paying attention, attune me to the sound of His voice—its steady cadence and gentle tone—and beckon me to follow, one step at a time.

Sister, if we are to be sheep who know His voice and follow Him, we need to be attentive to these nuances—to ask where Christ is making His presence known, day after day. Then we will find that, unlike those who question Him in today’s Gospel (see John 10:24), we do not need to wait in suspense. He is already here, calling to us.   

How is He speaking to you today?