Can You Hear Me Now?

Close your eyes and listen.  What do you hear?  The sound of cars outside, the TV, the dishwasher running, or kids playing?  When was the last time you heard…nothing?  Just plain silence?  I’m betting it has been a while.  In a world filled with so much noise that you need to be able to tell the difference between your ring tone, the sound your phone makes when you get a text message, and the song the dryer sings when a load is done, finding complete silence is pretty rare.

I wonder what God thinks about all that noise.  I wonder, because I’m often asking Him to show me something, or help me understand something, or give me direction in my life.  If He tried, I’m not sure I could hear Him!  In most families, it’s the loudest voice that gets the most attention.  When kids are going crazy and the television is blaring, what parent who wishes to be heard speaks in soft, deliberate tones?  Don’t we usually bellow so we can be heard above all the commotion?  Sometimes I think if God did that, it would certainly be easier to discern His voice.  After all, when my mom yelled, I certainly knew it was her and understood precisely what she wanted!

So when we need to get a message from God, how does that work?  Not long after God’s prophet, Elijah, enjoyed a great victory over the prophets of a false god (1 Kings 18:20-40), Elijah became fearful about what direction his life would take.  He needed to hear from God!  Elijah had enjoyed the amazing blessing of God and then just as quickly felt alone and abandoned by Him.  This seemingly invincible man of God was a mess and would have listened to advice from anyone who had offered it.  Ever been there?  In Elijah’s case, God sent an angel to get him back on track and the angel suggested it might help Elijah to hear directly from God.  So the angel pointed him in the right direction and the rest is the point of this story:

¹¹ Then He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord’s presence.”  At that moment, the Lord passed by. A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper.  (1 Kings 19:11-12)

When God spoke to Elijah, it wasn’t in a supernatural Earth(quake), Wind and Fire voice; it was in the soft whisper you might offer to your young child as you tuck them in at night.  That quiet reassurance, “Sleep tight, I love you.  I’ll be right here if you need me.”  Isn’t that what you really want to hear from God anyway?  Do you really want all the answers, or do you just want to know He’s got everything under control?

Is it even possible to make our lives silent enough to hear that soft whisper of God?  Yes, it is.  But it means turning off your cell phone; and the TV; and taking out the ear buds; and getting away from any interruption you might be subjected to so you can ask God to speak.  Then listen…very carefully…for the soft whisper of the One who is close enough to hear every breath you take.  If He cares that much about you, wouldn’t it be sad if you couldn’t get quiet enough to hear the love in His voice when He speaks to you?

Striving to hear His whispers,

Jacob