Listening Beyond the Silence

"Be still and know that I am God…"
Psalm 46:10

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." 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.     
1 Kings 19:11-13

These Bible verses are familiar to me, but I confess that I’ve never fully understood them. In particular, here are three questions that I’ve pondered:

1) Why does the Psalmist have to be “still” in order to know God?
2) Why does Elijah hear the voice of God not in a mighty way, but as a “gentle whisper”?
3) Is this advice specific to these individuals, or does it also apply to me?

I’m starting…just starting…to understand. Yes, these verses do apply to me. Through these verses, God is offering me timeless wisdom about how I can know Him better. And I now see the key, critical, vital, life-changing point: God whispers so that I will choose to slow down! He wants me to embrace silence and stillness so that I can hear His voice clearly and without distractions.

In all my years of following Jesus, I’ve never approached God in this way. 

As I reflect on my relationship with the Lord, I recognize that I’ve often struggled to discern His will. His “voice” usually has seemed muffled. But this should not be a surprise, because I’ve never taken the time to truly listen. My life is filled with busyness and activity; my mind is constantly abuzz with thoughts and plans and dreams and fantasies and hopes and fears and worries and anxieties….

I have created a wall of almost impenetrable clutter; it’s no wonder that God’s voice is indistinct to my ears.

So I have embarked on a journey into stillness before the Lord. This journey began last September in the eastern Sierras when Julie and I enjoyed our retreat. We spent several afternoons paddling our kayak on the beautiful, and nearly empty, alpine lakes. We would paddle and drift, and simply listen. I would listen to the wind in the aspens. Listen to the birds. Listen to the water lapping against the rocks along the lakeshore. The more I listened, the more I heard. And sometimes I actually could “hear” the silence. As I learned to listen to God’s creation, I started to learn more about how to listen for His voice. And “hearing the silence” seems to be a key component of learning to hear God.

I enjoy military history, and years ago I read about a sonar operator on a U.S. submarine. He was describing his job, and one comment stood out: “To be effective at this job, you must learn to listen until you hear the silence. And then you can listen through the silence and start to hear the subtle sounds of the deep.”

This description fits with the way I am striving to listen to God. I am learning…slowly…to quiet my mind. To sit before Him in stillness. To read Scripture and simply let my mind soak in His truth. As I do these things, I am starting to hear the silence. And beyond the silence, I know that I will hear – far more clearly – the gentle whisper of my loving Heavenly Father.

-  Bruce