‘Are you listening?’

 “God is in heaven and you are on earth so let your words be few.”  Eccl. 5:2

Can silence be heard?  We have been treated recently to some lovely clear night skies one of those nights unable to sleep I got up and stood at the kitchen door savouring the beauty of the starlit night – the beauty of the silence!

Thinking later about my sleepless night, I wondered how I could find that magical silence again—not just to find it, but somehow to hold on to it and keep it as a private treasure.

One of the heroes of the Bible is a man called Elijah.  He was called to be God's spokesman at a dark time in Israel's history.  His role caused him to stand against a corrupt royal family, and an avalanche of hostile popular opinion and religious beliefs.  He was a strong man who did a good job.

But even the strongest sometimes falter.  One day, in bleak despair, Elijah turned his back on his calling and ran away.  He wanted to die and bluntly told God that he had nothing left to give.

What happened next offers and insight into God's ways of doing business with people.  There was no sermon, damning rebuke or encouraging pep talk—just silence, some good food, rest and a six-week break, after which Elijah found himself at a mountain called Sinai.  And at that significant place God drew close to reveal something new to someone who thought he knew it all.

We are told of an earthquake, a strong wind and fire, but God didn't reveal himself in any of these powerful forces.  After all three had passed, there came what is described as a 'gentle whisper' (1 Kings 19:12).  In the stillness God spoke and Elijah listened and grew.

Silence does have a sound and a language all its own, and, as Elijah discovered, it is a language that God appears to favour.

Thomas Carlyle was not far off the mark when he wrote, 'Silence is deep as eternity, speech as shallow as time.'

We are not always ready to listen to God.  Part of the problem is our preoccupation with our own needs and concerns.  When we come to pray to God, our minds are busy with so many things, and it is hard to put them aside and be open to what God wants to say to us.

Perhaps we haven't experienced anything like the wind, earthquake and fire, but sometimes it takes something fairly drastic for God to get our full attention.  Ecclesiastes offers some wise instruction on how to approach God: 'Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God' (v. 2).

We are specifically warned against making promises to God that we will be unable to keep, because this will displease him.  Jesus talked about the foolishness of thinking that the more we say, the better our prayers will be heard (Matthew 6:7).

The truth is that the better we listen, the more we will know how we should pray.  As Pentecost approaches find the silence, and prize it greatly and through God will renew you!

Every Blessing,

Chris  

For your prayer time:

Has God been trying to get your attention?  Ask him if there is anything he wants to say to you and then spend a few minutes being quiet and listening for his 'gentle whisper'.