The Voice
These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: John 16:1-8
Do not seek worldly grief but Godly grief.
It is for our advantage that God sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and convict us of sin, warn us of judgment and lead us into righteousness. Worldly grief gives sorrow without hope, but Godly grief leads to repentance and change.
Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. 2 Corinthians 7:9-10
Measure your grief by your desire to change. The reason why it is to our benefit that Jesus went away is because the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us, convicting and changing us.
What voice are you tuning yourself to?
The more you tune to a voice the more you will hear that voice and resist others. The Holy Spirit is God’s voice that calls out from your inward parts. Reading your Bible sets the signal of your heart to the right station. With the Holy Spirit inside you, your heart also sends out a signal. When you align the two signals, your life changes as you stand on the line of communication between the two transmitters of God’s voice. The more you tune yourself to God’s voice, the more able you are to keep your balance as the winds blow and other transmitters tempt you to step out on their lines. “Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats… Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.” (Romans 14:3-5). When you know the voice of the Lord, you will be free to live. Of course you will still grow in your faith, but you won’t be tossed around by every whim of doctrine (James 1:6). You won’t be constantly questioning whether a new concept is God’s voice or not. Your growth will be a seamless movement of your life in alignment with God’s voice.
If you can rule yourself, you have more sovereignty than kings.
A king who cannot rule himself is not free, for “whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” (John 8:34). Freedom comes from being tuned to God’s voice. When you know God’s voice and allow Him to control your life, you will have more sovereignty than many kings. God’s voice will lead you through the processes of repentance and change as you pick up new subtle tonal adjustments in your alignment to His voice. Do not fear what others may do to you, when you listen to the voice God has spoken to you, you will not stumble.