A Podium for God

I know I've blogged about this topic before, but it keeps coming up in my life. A recurring theme, it seems.

Today, my daughter and I were talking about how we hear from God. In our post-modern age, even in terms of our faith, we lean more and more toward listening to God in a mystical sense. We tune our ears to what the Bible calls God's still, small voice, rather than simply paying attention to what He says directly to our eyes in Scripture.

That may be okay. What God wants to say to us is certainly not limited to the written Word. It is still true that the written Word is the only reliable Word of God. Still, small voices can come from other sources, and what we hear from them must be tested against the Truth of Scripture. But, having said that, God does speak to us from inside our minds and hearts.

So why don't I hear from Him that way more often?

One reason may be that my life is so full of intruding distractions that He can't get a word in edgewise. I need to prepare a place for Him in my mind. I need to provide Him with a podium, and give Him an attentive audience.

In practical terms, what does that mean? It means I need to spend time apart from the distractions. I need to turn off the TV. Sit down with my Bible instead of watching a video. Abstain, for a period of time, from computer games. Or put away my list of things to do for a while.

I'm not good at this. Distractions fill my life. I go from one to another of them. I feel uncomfortable without them. I have to be doing all the time. Absorbed in something, even if it's the most meaningless occupation.

So if God wanted to speak to me, how would He have to go about it?

He might have to send me an e-mail. Or write something on my wall in Facebook. I check both of those communication channels obsessively.

He's certainly capable of doing that, but I suspect it's not His preferred modus operendi. He prefers the still, small voice, I'm sure. To hear it, I must be still. The other noises in my life must become small. This is still a growing edge for me.

Lord, help me to continually obey the command in your Word to be still, and know that You are God.