“A quiet inner life is the canvas on which God creates His masterpieces.”
Tyler Stanton
Besides shame, busyness, and being in a hurry, distractions, noise, and talking are common barriers to hearing God’s voice. Imagine two people both talking at the same time. How well do you think each person could hear what the other person was saying? We can’t hear what someone says unless we are quiet enough to listen. God typically whispers more than He shouts, so we need to be quiet to hear God’s still, small voice.
The prophet Zechariah, in 2:13a, encourages us to “be still before the Lord.” Isaiah 30:15 says that our strength lies in quietness and trust. Most of us fear silence because the pain in our hearts will surface when we stop being busy and embrace quiet instead of noise. God allows this to happen to encourage us to process our hearts instead of stuffing our pain. He wants us to quiet the noise around us and within us and to silence ourselves so that we can hear His voice and have our souls become whole.
Imagine a person is trying to talk to you, and instead of listening, you turn your back to them and pay attention to your phone, responding to emails and texts and getting lost in the black hole of Facebook. It would be best to stop paying attention to your phone to hear what the person is saying. We must put our phones out of sight and pay attention to what God is trying to communicate. We need to prioritize ridding ourselves of distractions and attentively listen to what the Spirit is saying.
We can all hear God’s voice because He constantly speaks to His children. The problem lies in our ability to get quiet enough to listen and give Him our attention. Quieting our hearts, sitting in silence, and turning our attention to God help us hear His voice. Our souls grow when we wait on God and embrace solitude.
May you be encouraged to listen to God’s voice as you realize He really likes you and enjoys spending time with you. Choose to be more present with God by slowing your pace and having fewer commitments and more margin in your life. Lastly, silence your distractions, give God your attention, and be quiet enough to listen.
“The paradox in life is that we cover the steepest climb in the spiritual life by staying still.”
Tyler Stanton
Relevant Reflection:
What practical steps can you take to silence the noise, quiet yourself, and pay more attention to God to hear His voice?