Several things came to Elijah while standing on Mt. Horeb. The first was a “great and powerful wind that tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks,” but the Lord was not in the wind. Next came an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. A fire came last, but the Lord was not in the fire either. The sound of the Lord’s voice came as a gentle whisper. If Elijah would have not had his ears ready he would have missed the Lord’s voice entirely. This story got my mind wondering how many times I am looking for God to speak in this thunderous, earth shattering, electrifying voice, that I completely miss the subtle whisper of his sweet beckoning. Is it me, or does anyone else expect God to speak with a flashing neon sign that says “this is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21)? I think sometimes our expectation of God’s voice is so far from reality we completely miss the still small whisper that He so desperately desires for our ears to be attuned to.
“Then the Lord called Samuel.
Samuel answered, “Here I am.” And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”
Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:4-10
Samuel was a young boy of about 11 when he heard God calling to him in the midnight hour. During this time it was rare to hear the voice of the Lord (1 Samuel 3:1). This was largely due to the fact that the prophets had stopped listening. They had rebelled, allowing sin to be their lifestyle rather than the ways of the Lord. Sin blocked God’s voice from entering their ear. This didn’t mean that God had stopped speaking, it simply meant that they had stopped listening by allowing sin to dam up the channel for God’s voice to travel freely. Oh, how this resonates with me! How many times have I dug my heels into the ground of “being right” and in the meantime missing the sound of my Father’s gentle calling. Oh, how sin can easily dam up my ears from that sweet voice. Is anyone else like that, or am I the only one in this boat?
Since Samuel was young and still largely uninfluenced by the rebellious nature of the prophets of his day, he was able to hear the voice of the Lord for himself. However, having no experience in hearing the sound of God’s voice he assumed that it was Eli calling for him. Once Eli realized that it was the Lord, he instructed Samuel to attune his listening ear to what God had to say to him. “Speak, for your servant is listen.”
How many times do we miss the Lord’s still small voice all because we do not recognize that it is the Lord speaking? I know I am guilty of missing the gentle proddings of God's tender words. Sometimes, I just wish the Lord would scream, shout or yell to get my attention. But I heard it said somewhere that the Lord is a gentleman. His character is not one that will back us into a corner. We will always have the choice to listen for the whisper. But like so many other things in kingdom living, attuning our ears to the sound of God’s voice takes practice, patience, and a willingness to wait. God doesn’t usually speak on our time table. We need to foster an attitude of waiting for His timing.
“ Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him…” Psalm 37:7
“He says, “Be still, and know that I am God…” Psalm 46:10
“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27”14
I truly believe that God is speaking to us all of the time, but somewhere between the distractions of life that cause us to take our eyes of Christ and the sin that so easily entangles us (Hebrews 12:1) blockages are happening. We get so busy with the cares of life, we forget to just be still and wait patiently.
Call to Action
Keeping an attitude of repentance and learning to be still before the Lord will go a long way in helping us to free up any blockages that may occur in our hearing. By allowing the Lord to work in our heart to show us any areas that need adjusting and then making those changes will free up our ears to hear His still small voice. However, this is a practice that we need to continually return to each and every day. This takes time, but God's voice will become clear and frequent when we are diligent in these areas. I want to encourage each one of us, myself included, to humble ourselves before the Lord and work on keeping an attitude of repentance today. Let's also set aside at least 10 minutes of uninterrupted time today to quiet our hearts before the Lord and just listen, not pray with a list of requests, but with no words, be still, quiet and wait. I'm not saying God will speak in those 10 minutes, but if we get ourselves in the habit of doing these things each day, the Lord will meet us!
Heavenly Father, I pray for ears so finely tuned to your voice that when you whisper we will hear it clearly. Help us to keep our hearts humble and in a place of repentance so sin is not blocking your voice from reaching our ears. In all our distractions, may we take the time to be still and quiet our hearts and minds before you. We pray for a greater attentiveness to your still small voice. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray.
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