Hearing the voice of God is the desire of many people – but few seem to feel that it’s their experience.Why is God’s voice so difficult to hear? Or is it?
There are some verses in 1 Kings 19 – I encourage you to read the entire chapter to get a feel for the context – but I’ll paste in a portion that helps us understand a little about God’s voice.
IKings 19:11-12
11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. (KJV)
These verses are the experience of Elijah – a prophet of the Lord.
After the tremendous display of natural force God spoke very quietly to Elijah. The verses indicate that perhaps Elijah was looking for a message from God in the wind, the earthquake, and the fire – but the message came as a still small voice to Elijah.
Suppose that Elijah had assumed that there was a message in one of those natural events – he might have left his cave intent on a mission of some sort – and missed the voice of God altogether.
How are we expecting to hear God’s voice?
Often we want to think that God gives us signs – and perhaps he does. Maybe we rush about doing one thing and another – feeling fairly certain that God is behind it – yet how often do we suffer from a sense that something isn’t quite right?
Perhaps we didn’t wait to hear the voice of God. Hearing God’s voice may not be possible while we’re doing everything we think we need to be doing. I’m not dogmatic about this – I’m just throwing out the possibility.
You know, there’s a verse that says simply “Be still and know that I am God.” There seems to be a thread running throughout the Bible and other spiritual books as well that indicates that stillness and quietness are essential for hearing God’s voice.
Consider the example of Jesus – he often went out alone into the mountains to pray – one would presume that he was hearing the voice of God – that still small voice.
Next time you want to hear God’s voice try stillness and quietness.
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Thank you for your insights and the time taken to share them.
When in my youth, hearing God’s voice was so clear to me and I found it incredibly easy to praise and thank Him for his presence in my life. Later from the suffering I endured, hearing Him became a more difficult struggle and I became a servant to despairs.
The first time I planned to end my life, it felt like the sacrifice I needed to make for the happiness of my children. I planned for the time when I would choose to be gone and made all the arrangements needed for the future of my children without me. I was pulled from that choice by my decision to attend Mass for the last time. The gospel and homily were delivered by a very soft spoken man who made me feel like I had been directed there because God had been looking for me and I needed to hear Him speak. After I heard Him I returned home and I prayed, worked hard and hoped my life/our lives would be better but life only became more complex and my secret remained hidden and after a while, I became angry with God, myself and my life all over again.
The second time I wanted my life to end, it felt like I was no longer strong enough to face even one more tomorrow. I was ill and barely able to breath and all I wanted to do was go to sleep and not wake up. The more ill I became the more of a reality this was becoming until my daughter came to me one evening and told me she had been staying awake nights just to make sure I did not quit breathing. I know it wasn’t my daughter speaking to me it was God telling me to hang in there a little longer. When I returned home from the 6 days I spent in the hospital, I prayed, worked hard and hoped my life/our lives would be better but life became even more complex and my secret remained silent.
The third time I thought about ending my life or at least what life I was still trying to hang on to was after I filed for divorce from our 29 year marriage and my husband wanted me to attend marriage counseling with him and I agreed to go. He tore into me in front of the counselor and all I could think of was that I had now become this empty shell and any feelings of love, anger or hope were gone. From the many prayers I had said, it felt as if God had quit listening to me. The counselor then said, neither of us were anywhere close to continuing couples counseling and from this I heard God saying to me, hang in there one more time. Being strong or brave enough to divorce my husband was the hardest thing I have ever done and it was done only with God’s help.
What comes to mind now is how incredibly broken I felt then and I continue my struggles to keep away from the feelings that surrounded me during those times? If asked how making a final decision like that felt, I have to say I felt at peace with that decision and it felt like the right sacrifice for the happiness of my children. I felt weak and angry when I failed. Today, although I am still breathing, I occasionally question if I really did make the right choice or not? I become frightened when I recognize and feel how deeply rooted my pain still feels. God is still speaking to me, sometimes I hear him shouting at me and I listen, praise and thank Him everyday.
Kathleen