Just before doing my devotional entry for today, I thought I would write a little something on the study one of my fellowships started on today.

After reading the preface and first chapter of Francis Chan’s book “Crazy Love” there was one particular concept that these 2 parts reminded me of:

“Silence”

How can I put this? I think 1 Kings 19: 11–13 gets at the value of spiritual silence:

“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…”

I believe there’s a lot of noise; a lot of different things that take our attention away from God. There’s a lot of “wind,” there are “earthquakes” and “fires” in our lives. We’re always too busy, there are always too many things on our minds. So when it comes to hearing and listening to God, I think most of us would say “we can’t hear him” or “God never speaks to me.” Or sometimes we think God’s voice should be in a form we can notice like the wind, earthquake or fire (i.e. literally a voice, or a written sign? I admit, back in high school, I wanted God to write me a letter, though now that I think about it, that would be scary if God had to resort to speaking to us like that). But have we ever thought of listening and looking for God’s voice in silence? Have we ever thought of just stopping to think and reflect on what God might be trying to say to us in the silence?

I’m not just referring to the literal silence in our lives (though I must say sometimes that does help), but I also mean silence in our minds and hearts (i.e. clear of thoughts/worries, an open mind/heart that desires to hear what God has to say). I think as Christians we forget that God’s voice can be found in the silence (I’m not here to judge btw, because I’m guilty of it too), and end up frustrated, blaming God for not speaking to us in the way we expect him to speak.

Of course, God has the ability to speak to us in many ways (pictures, songs, stories, friends, mentors, enemies, stranger, random person on the street etc.), but  I think we forget that God is also in the silence. So then you might be wondering, why doesn’t God speak to us in a way that is obvious? I’m not sure if I have a perfect answer for that, but I think that a lot of the time, he actually is speaking to us in an obvious method (whatever that may be for you), we just don’t see it or accept it. So a question in response to that then is: Are you sure he isn’t? Are you actually trying to listen? Or are you searching for the answer you’re looking for? Think about it.

Or maybe we should also try listening to him in the silence some time. ;]