Listening for the Gentle Whisper

My mind is often a whirlwind of tangled thoughts. Scenarios of past events and imagined things that may never even happen loop endlessly, gaining speed with each go-around. Pros and cons of a decision battle incessantly with no victor. And in trying to get to the root of a problem, my thoughts randomly revisit the pieces of it over and over like a fish flip-flopping on the riverbank.

I’m not so good at sorting things out on my own. Each time I grab an idea out of the spinning jumble, the swirling winds greedily snatch it back before I can get a good look at it.

To untangle my whirling thoughts, I have to go to God. I need him for answers, direction, and clarity. Often, though, I have trouble hearing him because of the busyness in my life and in my head.

At home I run into some obstacles. One is finding a sufficient block of uninterrupted time before the I-should-be-doing-thats come knocking. The laundry needs to be started. Or I need to prepare lunch. Or it’s time to get ready for an appointment. My thoughts are stubborn and don’t untangle quickly.

Another problem is that I don’t have a dedicated area right now where I can isolate myself. So it helps if I’m alone in the house. Then I can walk around and talk out loud with God. Both walking and talking aloud help me to focus. However, I still notice every little thing that needs doing that day, as well as more involved tasks that nag at me because they never get done. This greatly bothers me, so it can ruin a good focus I have going.

I’ve tried sitting on my front porch, but as I related in a previous post, I accomplished very little. The distractions were too great. If I donned a COVID mask, people wouldn’t think anything of it these days. I could talk quietly and no one would notice. But I would also need a sleep mask so I couldn’t see anything. And then I would be totally consumed with what any passersby were thinking of me.

One thing I have discovered that works for me is walking outside. It’s best where there are not many people, in case my lips are moving. (I guess I could pretend I’ve got one of those Bluetooth things in my ear.) It should also be a familiar place so I won’t have the urge to explore and I won’t have to think about where I’m going.

My best places right now are local parks and cemeteries. The parks have a few other walkers, but they are involved in their own thoughts or conversations. And the cemeteries are very quiet; no one pays any attention to me. At both locations I am able to sort out my thoughts and hear God’s voice so much better.

On two recent occasions, I arrived at my walking destination a half hour before I was to meet my walking partner. One of those times I was trying to grab some of those swirling ideas out of their frenzy and bring some order. God was there to tame them. He fit them together like a jigsaw puzzle and used it to show me an insight about himself.

The other time, I had been struggling with something for quite a while. As I walked, I explained the situation to God—again—in a whiny sort of way. When I finished, I sensed his voice so clearly. It came as just a quiet thought, but I knew it wasn’t from me because he told me my thinking was all backwards. When he showed me how, it was an aha moment.

The prophet Elijah knew something about hearing God’s voice. Bold in his obedience to God, he single-handedly (unless you count God who was on his side) challenged the 450 prophets of Baal to a dramatic contest to prove whose god was the real God (1 Kings 18:16-40). King Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, was a huge promoter of Baal worship. When she heard that Elijah had all the prophets of Baal killed as the finale to the event, she was outraged and declared she would have the same done to Elijah within a day (1 Kings 19:1-2).

Elijah ran for his life into the desert and eventually ended up in a cave over 200 miles away. Other prophets of the Lord had been killed, and Elijah thought he was the only one left. So besides being terrified, he was also lonely and depressed, to the point of wanting to die. He desperately needed to hear the Lord’s voice.

¹¹Then 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. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ¹³When 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 didn’t hear God in the turbulent windstorm or the shattering earthquake or the consuming fire, though God can certainly send messages through such staggering physical events. They demonstrate his magnificent power and are often connected with his fierce anger for his enemies (Nahum 1:1-6). “But these manifestations of His power were not God Himself. The still small voice reveals His presence to Elijah” and penetrates his heart (Darby’s Bible Synopsis). It was in the calm aftermath that Elijah heard the “gentle whisper” of the Lord’s voice and was able to commune with him.

We can also find insight from the prophet Habakkuk. He wrestled with the question of why evil people went unpunished and he brought it to God. Then he said, “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me” (Habakkuk 2:1).

Watchtowers were built on city walls so a watchman could see anyone approaching the city, either enemy or messenger. The watchman would climb to the elevated position, leaving the commotion of life on the ground, and concentrate on watching and listening. Symbolically, this is what Habakkuk would have done: find a place from where he could hear the message the Lord had for him. As a result, in the following verse the Lord spoke to him and Habakkuk heard his voice.

We each need a place we can go to escape the voices and activity of everyday life so we can pour out our heart to God and hear what he is saying to us. The places will be unique to each of us. The important factor is that in our special place we are unencumbered, free to hear the gentle whisper of our Lord.

Scripture quotations are from NIV unless otherwise noted.

Commentary notes are from Bible Hub. See Resources.