Ever feel like God is silent and you’re stuck, afraid to make a move while waiting to hear a word from Him – any word, any word would do. You desire God’s guidance and direction, but you’re not receiving the clear message from Him that you are longing to hear. Elijah was desperate to hear God’s voice. Elijah was on the run, fearing for his life and he ended up hiding in a cave. It was then that –

“The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ “ (1 Kings 19:11) The story continues –

“Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks 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. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ “ (1 Kings 19:11-13) 

In Elijah’s experience, God’s voice wasn’t loud. God didn’t shout above the howling of the wind or over the chaos of the earthquake or over the roaring of the fire. But in the quiet following those events, Elijah heard God’s gentle whisper speaking to him personally. Maybe that’s why I am told to –

“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

I need to come away from all the noise, busyness and chaos that often surround me during my days, in order to hear God’s voice. It’s not that He isn’t speaking, it’s that I’m not in a place where I can hear Him. Perhaps that’s why Psalm 23 says –

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul.” (Psalm 23:2)

God is calling me to come away to a quiet place where I can be alone with Him, a place where I can hear His voice, a place where His voice is the only voice. But ironically, surrounded by the din of everyday life, I don’t hear His call, so I don’t heed His call. I don’t respond to His kind invitation to come away to those green pastures and quiet waters where I can be still and know Him because I never received the invite in the first place.  

For me, it is not gale force winds, nor earthquakes, nor fires that prevent me from hearing God’s voice. No, it’s more likely to be the busyness surrounding me at work, or the chaos of the crowd’s multiple voices at whatever event I am attending, (including church sometimes?) that keep me from hearing God’s still, gentle yet urgent whisper. When I am alone, it is likely to be the conversations coming from my TV or the music from my radio that intrude upon what otherwise would be some solitude, providing me that much needed break from a constant barrage of voices. So why do I turn on the TV or the radio if it’s God’s voice I am longing to hear?

God is asking me to come away and to be still. But I am so busy complaining about His silence, that I’m not listening, so of course I don’t hear Him. At the same time, I am desperately desiring to receive a word from Him. Time to admit it’s me, not God, after all. Time for me to make some changes. God did say,

” ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 29:13-14)

“And those who diligently seek Me will find Me.” (Proverbs 8:17)

“This is what the Lord says, . . . ’Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ “ (Jeremiah 33:3)

And the Psalmist said this –

“I love the Lord, for He heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy. Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.” (Psalm 116:1-2)

I have God’s promise. I have His Word that He hears me and that He will answer me. Maybe it’s time I turned off the TV, silenced my cell phone, shut off the radio and spent some time in His word or walking out in His world. God always hears my voice when I cry out to Him. But I don’t reciprocate by always listening for and hearing His voice. Too often, I let many other voices drown out the one voice I really want to hear and need to hear – the gentle whisper voice that Elijah heard after the wind, the earthquake and the fire. 

Sometimes it’s the voices in my head that are the loud ones. They can be louder than the voices that surround me in the world. There are a lot of voices competing for my attention, but the voice I want to hear and to follow is the voice of the Good Shepherd, because He’s the one who leads me into green pastures and beside still waters. Jesus said this –

“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 can snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:27-28)

Listening to the voice of my Shepherd and Savior – that’s the voice that leads me down the path to eternal life. Jesus said “they follow Me. I give them eternal life.” I can’t follow His voice if I don’t hear it. And I can’t hear His voice if I don’t listen for and to His voice above all the other voices vying for my attention and allegiance in this life. I have to choose to “be still and know” – I have to choose whose voice I will follow and obey. The voices in this world can be both loud and alluring. The voices in my head are often louder still. They can be more cajoling, more enticing, more deceptive, more damaging, more destructive, more accusatory even than the world’s voices because they originate with the enemy of my soul – the accuser of the brethren. Proverbs explains it this way - 

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” (Proverbs 14:12 & 16:25)

That’s right. These words occur twice in the book of Proverbs. Must be a pretty important message and the Author, God, wants to be sure we are listening. Listening to other people’s voices will not lead me where I want to go. It is God’s voice alone that will lead me through the valley of the shadow of death, (preparing a feast for me right in front of my enemies) through the desert, (delivering fresh manna every morning) through the flood (Noah listened to God’s voice telling him to build a really big boat even though it had never rained) – through every circumstance, it is God’s guidance, by His voice alone, that will lead me along the path He has prepared for me. His voice will lead me into eternal life with Him.

So I had better learn to listen and to listen well. As I become still, a favorite hymn from childhood fills my mind. Its music becomes the voice I hear in my head, a voice singing – “This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears, all nature sings and round me rings, the music of the spheres. This is my Father’s world, in the rustling grass, I hear Him pass, He speaks to me everywhere.” I think I was a better listener when I was a child. Maybe there were not so many voices surrounding me then, including social media? 

At any rate, today and everyday, I will purpose to pray the prayer Samuel prayed as a child. Then I will endeavor to “be still.”

“Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:9) 

listening and longing to hear Your loving, leading, life-giving voice above all other voices,

sincerely,  Grace Day