Still Small Voice

A mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.

1 Kings 19:11-12

God promises that he will speak and that we can hear, but often he calls us away from noise and chaos to listen intently for what he will say to us. Sometimes his secrets come wrapped in silence.

Because we live in an age of “portable noise,” stepping away and disconnecting from the constant bombardment of information must be an intentional act. Making silence part of our daily discipline opens our lives to the whispered wisdom of the Lord.

Approach your times of silence by listening for whatever he would say, not for what you want him to say. Let Habakkuk be your model: “I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the LORD says and how he will answer my complaint” (Habakkuk 2:1).

When Habakkuk needed to hear from God, he stationed himself on a high tower. He got up high—got perspective. And then the first thing Habakkuk did was watch to see what God would say.

Too often we come to God expecting him to validate our decisions and so miss him altogether. Many times what he says will redefine our problem—help us see it as his opportunity to show his power. But when we are listening for what we want to hear instead of for what he wants to say, we will surely miss him. Ask him to open your ears “to listen like one being instructed” (Isaiah 50:4, NIV).

Lord, I want to hear your whispers. Woo me into the silence where I can hear your voice without distortion.

Christ is not a reservoir but a spring. His life is continual, active and ever passing on with an outflow as necessary as its inflow. If we do not perpetually draw the fresh supply from the living Fountain, we shall either grow stagnant or empty. It is, therefore, not so much a perpetual fullness as a perpetual filling.

A. B. Simpson(1843–1919), Canadian preacher, theologian, and author