The Voices We Trust
We’re not short on voices in our lives.
The real challenge is figuring out which ones deserve to shape us.
Every day, voices compete for our attention. Your phone buzzes. Your calendar fills up. Someone’s opinion sticks with you longer than it should. That inner critic shows up on the drive home. Culture tells us who we should be. Fear tells us what could go wrong. Shame reminds us of where we’ve failed. And if we’re honest, those voices end up guiding our decisions more than we realize.
That’s why I keep coming back to how Jesus describes Himself in John 10.
He doesn’t call Himself a consultant.
He’s not an influencer.
He’s not a distant authority barking orders from afar.
Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd.
“I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and my sheep know me.” (John 10:14)
Fun fact, that word know is doing more work than we usually notice in that passage.
When I dug into it, I was surprised. Jesus uses the Greek word ginōskō. This isn’t surface-level knowledge. It’s not “I recognize you” or “I know about you.” It’s relational knowing…formed over time, through closeness, shared life, and trust.
In other words, Jesus isn’t saying, “I know about you.” He’s saying, “I know you.”
He knows your story.
He knows what keeps you up at night.
He knows the wounds you don’t talk about.
He knows your patterns and who you’re becoming.
And just as important, Jesus says His sheep know Him the same way.
That’s how sheep recognize a shepherd’s voice. Not because they’re especially smart, but because they’ve stayed close long enough to learn it. In fact, sheep won’t follow the voice of a stranger. They instinctively ignore unfamiliar voices and respond to the one they trust.
That detail gets me every time.
Because if I’m honest, the seasons when I struggle most to hear God clearly aren’t usually because He stopped speaking. It’s because I’ve drifted far enough that other voices got louder. Fear starts sounding practical. Shame starts sounding true. Pressure starts sounding urgent.
Jesus says it plainly: “My sheep listen to my voice.”
So, here’s the real question for all of us: Whose voice am I listening to most right now?
There have been seasons where I’ve let fear be louder than faith. Where shame speaks quicker than grace. Where productivity, pressure, or people’s expectations drown out the Shepherd’s voice.
But here’s the good news: learning His voice is something we can practice.
It doesn’t happen by accident. It grows the same way any relationship does, by spending time together. Time in Scripture tunes our ears. Time in prayer slows us down enough to listen. And biblical community helps us sort through the noise when we can’t tell what’s true on our own.
So, here’s a simple practice for this week:
Open to John 10. Read it slowly.
Then pray something like this:
“Jesus, help me recognize Your voice. Show me which voices I’ve been trusting instead of Yours.”
Then sit quietly for a moment, even thirty seconds. No fixing. No striving. Just enough space to listen.
Because the Shepherd still speaks. And He still knows His sheep by name.
The question isn’t whether He’s speaking. It’s whether we’re close enough to recognize His voice.
If this encouraged you, check out more articles from our Flatirons Spiritual Formation Team for practical tools, encouragement, and ways to grow in your faith and leadership. Click here.