Still Listening

Genesis 16:1-12, 15-16
Psalm 106:1-5
Matthew 7:21-29 or John 17:20-26

“…anyone who hears these words of mine and acts accordingly is like a wise man.” - Matthew 7:24

One of my favorite Christian bands, Third Day, sang a song called “Still Listening.” My favorite line in the song is “I thought I heard you shout, but then I figured out that all along You’re whispering to me… and I’m still listening.”

The song is about looking for God all over the place and not finding Him, until you listen to the quiet whisper in your heart to hear His voice. I like the picture that this paints - that God chooses to whisper more than to shout.

Because I’m a loud person, I’m used to loud voices. I keep envisioning God as the God portrayed on TV - a big voice thundering the heaven, the kind that would make your knees tremble and cause you to obey at once. Imagining Him whispering is hard! God, can’t you just shout it out?

Maybe God chooses to whisper because He knows it would be hard to compete with all the loud things I’ve surrounded myself with. Maybe He knows that I need a lesson on listening. And maybe He knows that if He whispers to my heart, it would be the voice I would be obeying. Tina M.

Let us learn to be silent enough to hear God’s whisper.

Today I will be quiet, just listening for Your whisper.

St. Irenaeus, bishop martyr, pray for us.