Hearing God!

Sorry for the late post "Blogger" was down all morning.

Have you noticed how busy life has gotten? It seems there are a million things demanding our attention, from the trivial - like who won American idol to the important, getting your spouse and kids to where they need to be.

There is so much noise in our lives. Everything is so demanding, yet in the middle of the cacophony of noise God says (Psalm 46:10) “Be still and know that I am God…”

There is no end to things that must be done or people that need to be heard. Some who are reading this have small children and know exactly what I am talking about.

In 1 Kings 19 there is a very interesting story. Elijah had just defeated the prophets of Baal, but ran away. While depressed after his great victory, God calls him out of the cave. A powerful storm comes, but God is not in the storm. An earthquake happens, but God is not in the earthquake. A forest fire rages around him, but God is not in the fire. How often do things demand our attention but God is not in them? They may seem important at the time but the Lord is really not there and to engage them is to simply waste your time. I am quite sure that Elijah must have thought with each event, “This must be God trying to get my attention!” None of the natural events were God. Elijah had to separate himself from the daily demands, the things that seemed important but were not, to hear the voice of the Lord.

God came to Elijah in the still small voice. A few things needed to happen for Elijah to hear God:

- First, he had to expect that God wanted to speak to him. He went looking for God. Many of us don’t expect God to speak so we never hear Him

- Second, He had to recognize God wasn’t in what seemed to be immediate to Elijah. If I were in an earthquake I would hope it would be immediate to God and in most cases it would be. However often we get ourselves into things that are not God and then we blame him for placing us there. Elijah had run away from God so the consequences of that running away were his. God is always gracious though!

- Third, he had to let go of his concern for all of the stuff going on around Him and give priority to the Lord. God came in the middle of all of this noise as a “low whisper”. Our choosing to hear God must become intentional. Jeremiah, speaking for the Lord said, “If you seek me then you will find me and find my strength”

Are you having trouble hearing God? Maybe one of the struggles Elijah had are yours as well. God is always speaking. Take some time to listen today.