The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice. John 10:2-5 NLT
I have had a dear friend for years. Well, I still consider her a dear friend and pray for her, but things have happened over several decades, and I am no longer a welcome figure in her life. I was her pastor and friend for years, but fairly early on it was clear she had mental struggles. One of the first signs noticeable to me was that she was having dreams and hearing voices that did not make sense. When I counseled her, I tried to help her sort out what was real and unreal, what sounded like Jesus and what did not, what was verified in Scripture and what was discounted, what was clearly wisdom and what was not. She went to a professional psychologist as I advised and he cared for her mental needs but asked me to continue to be a listening ear for her as long as she would allow me. I think for a while she truly tried to hear me. However, over a few years she divorced her husband, alienated most of her friends and family, and now is in an assisted living facility, awaiting rescue from a man (who doesn’t really even know her) she has long believed would marry her. In those years, pretty far back, she quit writing me the regular notes of love and encouragement I previously would get almost weekly. She informed me that she was sadly no longer able to be close to me because she had learned from God speaking to her in a dream that I was a false prophet. Of course, I was and am sad. Whenever I hear someone is “hearing voices,” I have great concern. I try to get them to competent help before they destruct over bad and imaginary advice.
Even worse, sometimes mentally healthy people are spiritually unhealthy, having an inability/unwillingness to discern and separate voices. They hear strangers’ voices (to quote Jesus), listen to them all, and generally give every voice at least equal weight and hearing. The voices of the world are very loud. Those voices include not just culture, but family and friends and other people whose opinions matter to the individual’s self-esteem and acceptance. Some of these people are good and godly people, but no one can be automatically accepted as God’s voice. Another voice is the voice of the Enemy, the one who seeks to destroy. He often succeeds in leading people into decisions that destroy their peace and sometimes even their lives because they don’t recognize him. One of the most troubling voices is our own. We love to do what is most pleasing to us, what feels most comfortable and satisfying. What we want to hear is probably the one most likely to lead us astray because it addresses our desires so directly. The biggest lie we believe is almost always the one we tell ourselves.
- God, help me know and love You so deeply that I will never choose the voice of a stranger.