Can You Hear?

Was I listening? Oh yes, I was hearing the sounds coming from the landfill as they filtered through the woods, the loggers cutting timber across the road and lots of chirps and whistles from the many birds in close vicinity to my location on the back porch. I was out there to have some quiet time for my devotions and Bible reading! Ha!

The scripture selection was Psalm 95, which begins as a joyful worship psalm; however, in verse 7 the writer threw me a curve. The end of this verse says, “If only you would listen to His voice right now!” (CEB) I was jolted into realization that through all the noise of the world sometimes I missed the still, small voice of God whispering to me. I like the way this is described in the Believer’s Bible commentary. William MacDonald says that “it is the longing, eloquent sighing of the Holy Spirit.”

This took me back to when I was a child and my mama being frustrated with me would tell me to please listen to what she had to say. I have done the same with my children, on those trying days of childhood when you let out that long, exasperating sigh and those same words; if only you would listen!

So, is it the actual noises that drown out the voice of God? No, the machines can’t drown it out, nor can the birds – the “noise” is all the chaos, confusion, spirit of deception and envy that speak so loudly it shifts our attention to itself and off of our Lord. No matter how briefly, we miss the opportunity to hear that voice that comes so often as a quiet thought, a whisper of an idea or a gentle nudge.

How do we turn off those distractions? Our answer is in James 4:8, “Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (CEB) Another truth is found in 1 Kings 19:11-12 where God tells Elijah to go out and stand at the mountain before the Lord. Elijah stood in a wind, earthquake and fire, but the Lord wasn’t in any of them. The end of this passage ends by saying, “After the fire, there was a sound. Thin. Quiet.” (CEB)

God came to Elijah in a gentle whisper. I learned while composing this devotion that the Hebrew for gentle whisper is Kol D’mama Daka, which is to say, the sound of thin silence. That is where God meets us…in the gentle whisper, the thin silence. If our hearts are still and silent we will be able to hear Him there.

I love this simple prayer and encourage you to use it if you too are having a hard time listening for and hearing God’s voice.

Dear God, help us draw near to You. We know whatever story You’ve written for our lives is beautiful — because it’s from You. Help us quiet the voices of the world so we may enter into the thin silence, to hear Your gentle whisper and be filled with Your peace in our hearts today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Proverbs31.org