“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:27-28, NIV

What do you do when your class is noisy and kids aren’t paying attention to your directions?

Do you flicker the lights? Try to yell louder than the 30 other voices? 1, 2, 3, eyes on me?

Usually, I sit quietly at the front of the room and just look around, endeavoring to make eye contact with each student. I wait. As I catch each one’s attention, I may raise an eyebrow now and then.

Inevitably, one by one, the kids catch on that I’m waiting on them, and they shush their friends. Within a few minutes, the room is silent again, everyone looking at me, and I can speak at a normal volume so that everyone can hear me and we can continue with the lesson.

I know that the students need to hear my voice in order to learn and move forward, but they’ve gotten distracted by the other multitude of voices around them. If they make a habit of listening to their classmates instead of me every day, eventually they’ll become conditioned to tuning me out. They might even do it subconsciously. They won’t learn, and will probably fail the class.

I don’t want them to fail, but I can’t force them to listen to me–they have to choose to tune in to my voice, every day.

Sometimes spiritual warfare is subtle. Sometimes it’s subterfuge; it can come from within our own minds. There is an insidious voice that sows seeds of doubt, insecurity, condemnation, and compromise. If we listen too much or too long to this voice, the voice of the Holy Spirit can start to get crowded out and harder to hear among the noise. Before long, we are searching for God’s voice but can no longer hear it: it seems that God has gone silent.

If you are going through a season where it seems like God has gone silent on you, if you can’t hear Him like you used to, it’s not because He’s left you. He is still there, just as He always was before you even learned the sound of His voice. He is patiently waiting for you to eliminate the distractions and stop listening to voices that aren’t His–even if that voice is the one inside your own mind. God knows that if you listen to Him, you will learn the lesson He has prepared for you. He’s just waiting patiently for you to choose to tune back in.

Father God, thank You for granting us the privilege of hearing Your voice. You, the Almighty, the Alpha and Omega, Creator of the Universe love us so much that You desire to speak directly into our minds, hearts, and lives, if only we will choose to listen to You above all other voices. Father, it’s incredible. Please keep our spirits and hearts soft toward You and our ears always open. Thank You, Lord, for being our Good Shepherd; nothing and no one can ever snatch us from Your hand. Give us ears to hear what You want to say today. Thank you, Father. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.

Copyright Rhapsody Jordan-Parisi.

Rhapsody is a Christian Educators member and high school English teacher from North Carolina. She is passionate about helping overwhelmed teachers reclaim their time and peace of mind through support, encouragement, and intentional strategies. You can connect with her at tightropeteaching.com.