caller ID

I still have a hard time getting used to seeing identification numbers flash on the phone. In a way I'd rather not know who is calling, but I guess it's good to see numbers that are obviously telemarketers. In the old days you had to pick up to know who was calling, and if it was a friend or family member the moment you heard the "hello". The only caller ID then was voice identification. My sisters and I had fun with this particularly when we were teenagers. There were five of us and it was difficult to tell who was who, especially the older three. We played tricks on girlfriends and boyfriends alike. Even my parents usually had to go down the list of our names before someone identified themselves. My daughters and I have the same "problem". Sometimes it takes hearing a certain inflection in a word or expression before I can tell my girls apart over the phone! But I can tell.

I was thinking about the scripture where Jesus said His sheep would know His voice. Sometimes I know I need to hear some things over and over. It isn't that the voice is unfamiliar, and yet I question all too often, particularly with things that are hard to hear. The Lord is creative in the way He speaks, but unmistakeable through His Word, the things we know to be within His character, which is perfect, and loving, if at times severe. Words and communication heard with the understanding that they are given in love changes the whole meaning of a message. It has taken me a long, long time to trust that all things in my life, where I've really tried to hear the Shepherd, are answered in love. But when I exercise my faith to believe it, I can receive so much more easily and obey. I don't hesitate to "pick up".

I know, too, the times I've refused a conversation or hidden from God or people I know, I usually regret it. Or sometimes communication gets garbled, and it takes time to work out what was meant or intended. I try to follow the same rule always-to receive the best I can when I do anwer, and have confidence in the familiar voices that say "hello".