Whisper

 

When was the last time you just sat and thought about absolutely nothing? When was the last time you walked outside, enjoyed a cool breeze, dipped your toes in cool water? When was the last time you just stopped and listened? Too long? Not enough hours in the day? 

Psalm 46:10a says, "Be still and know that I am God:" And in 1Kings 19:11-12, Elijah is told to hide himself in the cleft of a rock. There was a great wind, an earthquake, and then a fire. After all of these, a still, small voice.

We are so distracted in these times, that hearing that still small voice is difficult at best. Drowned out by fears, anxiety, television, radio, electronics, doing, that even if we heard it, we wouldn't be able to discern it from everything else. 

We have, as a general rule, a cacophony of voices vying for our attention every minute of every day, and sometimes in our sleep. Unless we are deliberate in taking time each day, we will miss those sweet whispers, that feeling of peace even in the midst of a storm. 

Stanford University put out a study on why it is important to engage in contemplation. It suggested that regular contemplation helped us to be more healthy physically, mentally and spiritually. While the study was not Biblically based, the concept is still the same. We need the time to be still and listen, to contemplate, then to worship. 

Oh, but I do take time! So, I have a question for you...in that quiet time what do you do? Read? While that is good exercise for the brain, it is not being still. Listen to music? Still not still. Paint, draw, do any other hobby? You are still using that time to do, having your brain call up a skill, making it pay attention to what you're doing. I propose just quiet. Sit, just for a few moments, and do nothing, listen to nothing, don't do a thing except...

Ask God to help you to be still. Ask Him to give you eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to know Him. Just. Be. Still. And as you are in that stillness, then see...see the world around you. Not the broken world that we see and hear about as it's blasted to us from all directions. No. Just see the world before you...the trees, the birds. Children playing, dogs playing, cats sleeping (because, yeah...22 hours a day isn't enough). 

Maybe you won't hear God speaking to you, and that's okay. We're so out of practice with all that distracts us daily that it's easy to miss that quiet voice. Adam and Eve, Moses, Elijah, all of the prophets, the Apostles, they were all blessed to hear His voice. We just aren't there anymore. We don't take the time any more. Every minute of every hour of our waking moments are filled with noise, activity, doing.

Today, just for a few minutes, take time to just clear your mind and surroundings of all of the distractions. Put your phone in a place that you can't instantly reach it. Turn off the T.V., take a few minutes in the breakroom. No distractions, just tell God, "here I am," then make it a habit every day to take that time. After reading your Bible, take the time to contemplate what you've just read. If you can, read it in print, not digitally, as it has been made known in studies that the mind keeps going for a bit after you've read or been on something digitally. So, reading before bed should be done with a physical book. 

Most of all, as you enter your quiet time, remember; no distractions! Well, as much as you can try to start with no distractions. Moms, Dads, I know it's hard to just stop for even a few minutes with kids around. Take the time that they're napping, bathing, in school, whatever quiet time there is, even if it's only maybe five minutes...try.

I will tell you that my quiet time needs to definitely be a priority. Would you join me in this challenge? I'm sure we would all benefit greatly from just being quiet
and listening to that still, small voice. That whisper from God.