Do you ever hear Christians talking about trying to hear what God is saying in a still small voice through all the noise of life? We have to try really hard to listen in order to hear what God is saying in that still small voice. Turn the radio off in your car and get rid of all distractions so you can hear what God is saying to you….in that still small voice.
Do you know the origin of that expression or is it something that you have just assumed because you hear it so much at church and in evangelicalism? It actually comes from 1 Kings 19:13 where God spoke to Elijah at the entrance to the cave in a still small voice (or “whisper” in NASB). You remember the story. The wind passed through the mountains but God was not in the wind. After the wind was an earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake was fire but the Lord was not in the fire. After that God spoke to Elijah in a whisper.
From this we somehow think that we have to try really hard to hear what God is saying to us because He is whispering and making His message hard to hear or discern. I find it strange that this is the part of the text that so many preachers will jump on and make huge points out of. Looking at the entirety of Scripture I don’t think that we can say that God only speaks in a still small voice and that we really need to try hard to hear what He is saying. This is an exegetical fallacy.
God does not couch his messages in ways that we have to try really hard to understand (although exposition is hard work). The message is not difficult to understand. It is more often difficult to obey His message but the message itself is usually quite clear. God spoke to Moses from a burning bush. God’s message to Moses was quite clear but Moses did not want to obey. The obedience and trusting in God is difficult but to hear the message is not. God spoke to Balaam through a donkey and the message was quite clear. Does this mean we should go looking for burning bushes and talking donkeys in order to hear what God is saying? Absolutely not. God spoke to Saul on the road to Damascus. Again, His message to Saul was quite clear.
In our day, God speaks to people through His Word. There is no small voice we need to listen for. If you are a believer, you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you and of course He will speak to you but the mode that God uses to communicate His truths to you is His Holy Word. Forget about focusing on hearing that still small voice and read the Bible. If the Holy Spirit convicts you to repent of a sin in your life as a result of the truths in the Bible, then REPENT. Don’t listen for a whisper. Just DO IT. God commands us to share the Gospel with others. Don’t wait for a whisper for who to share with. Evangelize those that God puts in your life and opportunities arise. Said another way, share the Gospel as part of your daily life as you encounter divine appointments God places in your life.
Please don’t wait for that still small voice. Wouldn’t you love it if God put his message to you on a billboard so that there was no mistaking what you are to do? Well, He has. It is not a billboard but it is called the Bible. Read it. It is clear. It is how the living God communicates to us. There is no guess work here. God speaks clearly and we must obey.
