Listening for God’s Voice

In the early twentieth century, New York City had become a noisy place. An overhead train, cars, trolleys, newsboys yelling, and people rushing around—life was loud! Yet, one day at Broadway and 34th Street, a man named Charles Kellogg declared to his friend, “Listen, I hear a cricket.”

“Impossible,” his friend answered. “With all this racket you couldn’t hear a tiny sound like that.” Yet, Mr. Kellogg insisted, and eventually found the cricket, chirping in the window of a bakery. “What astonishing hearing you have,” his friend proclaimed. “Not at all,” Mr. Kellogg replied. “It’s a matter of where you focus your attention.”

Elijah was a prophet of God who had just seen Him perform an amazing display of His power, but now the prophet was hiding in a cave for fear of the pagan queen (1 Kings 19:1-9). This time, however, God didn’t want to communicate in a powerful way. Even though He had sent a great wind, an earthquake, and even a roaring fire (vv. 11-12), now it was time now for Elijah to commune with God personally and quietly. God wanted to speak to the prophet in “a gentle whisper” (v. 12).

Today, there’s a surplus of noise in our lives, yet God still speaks in a quiet voice through the Scriptures and by His Spirit. Taking time to prayerfully focus our attention on God will help us tune in on His comforting, guiding voice.