Swap Blog

“Be still and know that I am God….” -Psalms 46:10

How often do we sit and just be still and listen to God?
In our prayers, do we talk more than we listen?
When we ask of God, do we take time to listen for the answer?

We tend to spend most of our time running, and doing, and going, but do we ever really take time to listen?
Remember though, there is a difference between listening and hearing…

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.”
- James 1: 22-25

“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. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ ”
- 1 Kings 19 : 11-13

Elijah was told to go up onto the mountain and listen for God. God was not present in the wind, earthquake or the fire. But instead, his voice came in a gentle whisper, in the “silence after the storm”.

If all the noise of life is filling up your ears, how can you hear God’s voice?
Think back to the past week, how many times has there been complete silence around you? More than likely, there have not been very many moments of silence. Try to find or create these moments in which you can just sit and listen for God’s voice.

I would like to challenge you to take 10 minutes out of your day, and find a completely quiet place and just sit or lay there with no noise or anything. Cut off the TV and radio. Try to listen for God. Try to find him talking to you. You may be going through a tough time right now…but God is in every situation that you go through. I guarantee He’s there…. you just have to listen for Him.

One last note: In a song titled “Adding to the Noise”, Switchfoot writes:

What’s it gonna take
to slow us down
to let the silence spin us around?
What’s it gonna take
to drop this town?
We’ve been spinning at the speed of sound.

Stepping out of those convenience stores
what could we want but more more more?
From the third world
to the corporate core
we are a symphony of modern humanity

If we’re adding to the noise
turn off this song
If we’re adding to the noise
turn off your stereo, radio, video

I don’t know
what they’re gonna think of next
genetic engineers of the most high tech
A couple new ways
to fall into debt
I’m a nervous wreck but I’ll bet
that that T.V. set
tells us what we’ve wanted to hear
But none of these sound bites
are coming in clear
From the third world to the corporate ear
we are the symphony of modern humanity.

We included this post in Cao’s Blog Wednesday Open Trackback Party – here

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 19th, 2005 at 8:31 am and is filed under Faith, Family, Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.