How We Miss Hearing Our Silent God in the Midst of the Noise

Hello, friend,

The last couple of weeks, I've been processing how noisy life is and how quiet God can be at times.

I don't need to describe the noises to your. Frankly, in a world of mass communication, I am grateful you arrived here, to read what I have written to you. On a personal level, if you do not reply or let me know you read this, I will never know. But this showed up, and you took a look. Thanks!

Our world is in a constant battle to get your attention. They do so with catchy phrases, pretty pictures, cool music, and marketing to targeted interests.

But what about God? Does He always use His "outside voice" to get us to look to Him? In a word, nope.

I am intrigued to see that many times throughout history, God has appeared to hold His words and was "silent." If anyone has anything to say about the world, how things are going, and what we should be doing, it's God!

In silence, like a wise teacher, God can give a whole lesson.

So how do we not miss what God is trying to say?

I am going to speak more to this subject on Sunday morning at the 10:30 service (see "Yoo-Hoo!"), and I hope you will come or watch online, but here are two basic thoughts to get you "hearing" what God is saying when He is quiet.

First, know that there is "a time to keep silence, and a time to speak" (Ecclesiastes 3:7). We live lives of constant dialogue. Some of us have even fallen asleep texting or checking social media because we just had to check for messages and updates one more time.

Do you know anyone with FOMO? If you're unsure, FOMO is an acrostic for those who have a Fear Of Missing Out. They are constantly weighing life according to the news and events that just might come their way through others and circumstances. It can be a form of worry, and the subtle surge of energy it creates is addictive.

I think more of us have FOMO than would care to admit. Oddly (and sadly), we have FOMO about the things of this life so much we keep in constant communication with the things of the world. When we stay so connected to the world, it is so very hard for us to stay connected to God!

It's ok and even good to be quiet. Once we know we have permission and encouragement to be quiet, then let's do it, which leads me to a another thought.

Second, be silent like God.

Interestingly, when we are quiet, we have the ability to listen, and then God speaks. Notice this pattern shown in a Bible example.

Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."

When life has been noisy, silence can make us feel weird and awkward, but silence can also be, as they say, "golden." In this case, silence helps us to hear what God is saying.

Most people want to hear from God, but many do not know how to hear God's voice among the other voices they hear. There, often in the silence, we can find the opportunity for God to speak to us.

By the way, as we will see Sunday morning, another part of this equation is listening to His Word via the Bible. It's truly an amazing thing to experience God speaking through a Book He inspired through writers 2,000+ years ago!

I hope these ideas help you and birth some excitement for what God will do as we worship Him Sunday morning! The Lord moved in a great way last weekend--let's prepare for God to keep moving in our lives to change us for His glory!

God bless,
Pastor Dennis Schaffer

P.S. If posts like this help you, be a blessing and share them with others. Thank you for reading!

If you would like to know Christ, utilize this free, at-your-own-pace Bible study resource, Starting Point.