Meeting God in the Whispers

Do you ever feel like one of those toy cars that drive furiously until they hit something, only to bounce back and head off in another direction? I know I do. From the moment my feet hit the ground in the morning, it just seems like I’m going, going, gone all day. There’s so much to do! That old adage “A woman’s work is never done” couldn’t be more true. With a husband to love, kids to raise, a home to manage and bargains to hunt, it’s a rare night that my head hits the pillow without a racing thought of something left undone. Sound familiar at all?

You know what, though? I don’t think God is impressed with our busyness. In fact, I’d venture to guess that He can probably get pretty frustrated with it. Do you know how hard it must be to get our attention sometimes? Every day He whispers little truths into our hearts: I love you. I miss you. I’m here...but the noise of our rushing about makes it nearly impossible to hear His voice sometimes. Our God may speak in whispers, but it’s not because He doesn’t want to be heard. He whispers because He wants to make sure we’re paying attention. Are we?

The Father calls us to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). That sounds like a great idea, but as mothers and wives how do we do that? How do we slow down when life is happening every moment of the day? How do we take a break when we seem to be the central hub that makes our homes function? After all, who would make dinner, do the laundry, pack the lunches, clean the bathrooms, pay the bills and kiss all the boo-boos if we all decided to just “be still” for a while?

The truth is, life can handle us taking a time out every now and then. Contrary to popular belief, our families can actually survive without us for a day. But we can’t survive without deep, intimate communication with the Lord of our hearts. We have to find time to accept His invitation to be still and listen to His whispering voice.

One way we can do this is by the practice of solitude. I know that just sounds like a fancy way of saying “having a quiet time”, but the solitude I’m talking about is a little more involved. This solitude requires getting away from home and taking at least a 24-hour vow of silence. No conversations with anyone but Jesus. It’s also a kind of fasting from all the normal “noise” of your life. No telephones, cell phones, emails or computers. No iPods, CD players, or radios. And no books – not even Christian ones. Just you, your Bible, a journal, and Jesus. Sound easy? It’s not – but it is worth it.

You should try it sometime. Find a cabin, hotel room or a retreat center – somewhere you can go that’s safe and quiet. Feel free to take a girlfriend with you to share in the experience, but have separate bedrooms to give each other space. Also, make sure to communicate clearly when the silence will begin, when it will end, and how you will do things like take meals together during the time you can’t talk. Plan to arrive a little earlier than the time you want to start your silence so you can get familiar with where you are and be certain you have everything you need.

Enter into your time of silence with a little understanding and a whole lot of grace. It’s hard to jump out of life and expect to be still right away. Your thoughts might struggle to stay focused on the Lord, but He is patient. Pray for peace of mind and trust that it will come in time.

You might also find that once it’s quiet and you have no agenda, all you want to do is sleep! It is perfectly ok to nap during your time with the Lord. His word says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”(NIV Matthew 11:28), not “Come to me, and if you’re tired I’ll force you to stay awake and talk to me.” Sometimes the Lord wants to communicate His heart to us by giving us space to rest. Snuggle up in His lap and enjoy this sweet gift!

In the time that you are awake and your mind is finally done remembering all the things you forgot to do before you left, try really hard not to fill up space with rambling prayers or reading the Bible cover to cover. This is your time to be still and listen. Yes, by all means pray, but try your best to listen twice as much as you talk. Take a walk, if you can, and let Him speak to you through His creation. Write in your journal and let Him guide your thoughts and answer your questions. Read Scripture, but try hard to limit yourself to just a small section of it. All Scripture is indeed good, but He might have a specific word for you that He wants you to sit in for a while.

It may not seem like much is happening at first, but by the end of your 24 hours you will have experienced a rich, intimate time with the Lord that will speak volumes to your heart. Jesus longs to spend quality time like this with us. He desires to speak blessing, healing and peace into our hearts, but sometimes we have to purposely slow down to hear it.

I challenge you to make time soon to stop and be still. Be intentional for just one day about knowing that He is God in your life. Leave the noise and busyness behind, and tune your ears to the gentle whispers in your heart. He is waiting right now to meet you there.