I will call your name
It's like the tale of a father and a son on a journey to a distant city. There were no maps. The trip would be long and hard, fraught with danger. Only the wisdom and experience of the father would get them safely to their destination. Along the way the boy grew curious about his surroundings. What was on the other side of the forest? What would he see if he stood on that distant ridge? Could he run over there and look? His father said yes.
But the boy was a little nervous. "What if I wander too far from you, Father? What if I get lost?"
The father said, "Every few minutes I will call your name and wait for your answer. Listen for my voice, my son. When you can no longer hear me you will know you've gone too far."
Everything depends on the relationship of the listener to the One who calls.
Used with permission from Deepening Your Conversation With God by Ben Patterson (c)1999 Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Book House Company. All Rights Reserved, p. 53.