Are You Still Listening?

My Pandora app on my ipad often produces a message that simply says, “Are You Still Listening?”  after a period of inactivity.   I often feel like replying, Of course I’m still listening, but I’m busy getting stuff done.  Why don’t you just keep playing instead of stopping to ask me if I’m still listening!  When it comes to God, He is constantly speaking to us, but so many times we let his voice just become part of the background “filler” music to our everyday tasks to the point where do not even hear the words that are being said.  God is so powerful and his creation speaks to us in itself, yet God still chooses to whisper to us in that still small voice. 

I love how Job put it,

The pillars of heaven tremble,
And are astonished at His rebuke.
He stirs up the sea with His power,
And by His understanding He breaks up the storm.
By His Spirit He adorned the heavens;
His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!

(Job 26:14)

I have seen the majesty of God waking me in the morning with bright rays of light that burst into my room as a tired-eyed woman slowly awakes from her slumber.  I have seen bits of His majesty while gazing into the lush landscape of the English Country side and into the hillsides of Tuscany during my times of travel.   I have even beheld a bit of God’s glory as I watched grown men weep in humility and deep reverence unto God at the Wailing Wall of Jerusalem. These experiences have put me in such awe of God that often times, I was left speechless. God speaks in such powerful, yet indirect ways, but like Job, I am more astonished and amazed that God, who can speak in such power and splendor, still speaks in the form of soft holy whispers.  It has been the whispers of God that have truly put me in awe of Him like nothing else. I was 16 when I first heard His whisper, Go this way, not that way as I prayed over His direction for my life. His whisper told me I needed to trust Him and allow Him to be everything to me. As I have continued to grow in Christ, His whisper has been sufficient and satisfying to my spirit when experiencing a disappointment. I daily long for those whispers.  His whisper is so soft and gentle that it can be easy to miss it in all the hustle and bustle of a life.   I can’t say that I hear His whisper every day because, frankly, I sometimes do not allow the demands of life to be quieted long enough for me to hear His voice.  But when I do stand still long enough to hear Him, I savor His words like honey to my lips.  Sometimes, He has had to tell me something  twice because I did not allow my spirit to be quieted the first time.  I have to let the distractions go and tell Him, Yes Lord, I’m still listening.  What do you want to tell me today?  When I do, He gently places the right word into my spirit- words that I need to hear.  These words are nourishing.  They are life.

My question to you is are you still listening? Is God trying to speak to you and you haven’t been able to quiet the distractions and frustrations long enough to hear Him speak?  He is waiting.  He is patient. Open your spiritual ears and your heart to hear His still small voice. You will find yourself in awe of Him as you realize that He has the exact word you need to hear today.