In the Silence You are Speaking

"Elijah came to a cave where he looked for shelter. Then the Lord said to him, 'Go outside and stand on the mountain before the Lord; the Lord will be passing by.' A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks -- 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, there was a fire -- but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave" (I Kings 19:9,11-13).

Sometimes I get really frustrated and feel like no matter how hard I am listening, God just isn't speaking to ME. I know He is speaking, I just feel like He's speaking to everyone except me. I am so grateful that the truth is that this kind of thinking is all WRONG. God is always speaking to me, just as sure as He is always speaking. I just happen to drown out His words with the noises of this world. I get so caught up in listening to my music, my friends, my family, my boss, my t.v., my radio, my ... my.... You get the point. Now granted, God uses other people, music, etc. all the time to minister to us in each of our lives, however, He is also constantly speaking to us through His Holy Spirit that dwells in those who believe. He sent The Holy Spirit to be our Comforter, our Counselor, the One that tells us whether to go to the left or the right, the One who directs our paths and orders our steps. This is the voice that I sometimes have a hard time hearing because I am constantly drowning it out by not only my problems, but sometimes by doing good things like listening to praise and worship music, or a good sermon.

Tonight as I was praying about some decisions I need to make, I heard God speak to my inner man and say, "In the silence, I am speaking, all you have to do is tune in to a new station... listen to the silence and You will hear Me whisper in your ear." I realized then that I am constantly avoiding the silence. One of the things I dreaded more than life before I found Christ was being surrounded by silence. I found that in those times, if my mind wasn't constantly being distracted by the things in this world, then I would be left alone with my own destructive and ominous thoughts and that would lead me into an endless pit of despair. I guess, now that I have Christ in my life, I am still very weary to get caught in the silence for fear of repeating my past.

It is so good to know that silence no longer equates with destruction in my life and that God is forever working on changing me, rearranging me, and taking me from glory to glory. He loves me too much to leave me the way I was when I found Him. He is constantly showing me the habits and thought patterns in my life that are in need of change. He is constantly pointing me towards Himself and saying "this is the way, walk in it." (Isaiah 30:21) I will do my best to not fear the silence anymore, after all, I don't want to miss a single thing that my God would take the time to whisper in my ear. One of my favorite quotes is from Mother Theresa when she said, "God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer." Praise the Lord!