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Thoughts of...God's Still Small Voice
Circumstances in my life frequently leave me asking a crescendo of questions.
“What do I do now?”
“Am I doing the right thing?”
“What if I had done something differently?”
“What should I do?”
“When?”
“How am I supposed to move forward from here?”
“Where should I go?”
“When?”
“Lord, what do You want me to do?!”
When I have a decision to make and need God’s guidance and wisdom or when I am facing a situation requiring discernment and direction, I go boldly to the throne grace in my time of need () and listen to the still small voice of God (). I have learned to do that.
Before I learned that, however, I was very frustrated by God’s insistence upon speaking to me in a still small voice. Why wouldn’t He speak to me “normally,” such that I would not have to strain and struggle to hear Him? Knowing God’s will for me sure would be far easier to discern if He would just “speak up.” Or so I thought.
The all-knowing, all-powerful God of decency and order (, ) speaks to His children in a still small voice for some very good reasons.
First of all, God loves us and He knows we are made of but dust (, ) and our physical lives are as durable as the mist (). He speaks to us in a still small voice because He knows we are not equipped in these tents of clay to hear the voice of the Lord. In the 29th Psalm, written by David, we learn that the voice of the Lord
• is powerful
• is full of majesty
• breaks cedar trees
• divides the flames of fire
• shakes the wilderness
• brings on labor pains
• clears forests.
Additionally, we learn in that the voice of God has shaken the whole earth and will shake both heaven and earth. If we were to actually hear the voice of the Lord, who could stand?
Secondly, a still small voice is befitting of God’s nature (, ). God is love (, ) so He speaks to us lovingly ().
Finally, and most importantly I believe, God speaks to us in a still small voice because we need to be still and know that He is God (). The pace of our lives is fast, furious, and non-stop, even frantic at times. The cumulative time pressures of all our activities result in life being lived at 150 miles per hour. When you are racing at 150 miles an hour with the windows open and talking on your cell phone, how can you possibly hear a still small voice?
Nor can we listen when we are talking, asking, pleading, crying, whining, or complaining. We need to be silent before our God (). We need to be calmed down and soothed (, ). We need to be comforted (, , , ). We need the peace of God in our lives (, , ). We NEED to be still. God speaks to us in a still small voice so we will stop running and thrashing around, stop straining and struggling. By His still small voice He gets us to stop so we can be still, be silent, and listen.
Rather than frustrated by the still small voice of God, I am thankful for it. Because I have learned to crawl up into Daddy’s lap and be still. There I get the soothing, the comfort, the peace, and the instruction I need.
Pastor Doug
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