God Whispers

I was on Facebook with a friend the other day, and something came to me that I had not really thought about before. It dealt with how loudly God speaks to us, the nature of His speaking voice.

After all, God can trumpet from the heavens, and I think that would certainly catch my attention. A celestial voice from the clouds saying something like "Hey Andy, what WERE you thinking?" would get me to pause and reflect. But only after I stopped shaking, that is. And only after I got over the embarrassment that all the other people who heard Him were wondering what on earth I did to earn such a celestial remonstrance (Assuming they were not inwardly shivering, waiting to hear their own name boom out).

And I guess that's the point. God does not want us embarrassed, worrying about the next time we hear that heavenly trump blaring. He wants community, He wants closeness, and He wants His presence to warm us. Sitting and quietly listening is not something that today's world seems to encourage in us. Why would it, if we are not of the world, but of Him? The real challenge is marshalling all the resources that are at our disposal and directing their activity through us to Him. The real challenge is coming before Him, quietly and humbly to seek out His wisdom and His will. God wants us before Him ready to listen to what He has to say to us.

So God whispers to us because He wants us to lean in close to Him to hear what He is saying. And I have to do a much better job of listening closely, quietly and for as long as He wants me to.