The Whisper of God

My great-grandpa was a one room school house teacher where they had a pot belly stove and an outhouse. He could talk like Daffy Duck. He could make his voice sound just like a choo-choo train. And he could sure sing. I loved when he sang. His songs were from another world and time and made me feel like I was being whisked away by whimsy and imagination. I loved the voice of my great grandpa. And he had a way of talking so that when he spoke, you wanted to hear what he had to say.

When my mom had the three of us rambunctious kiddoes, she asked great grandpa for advice, knowing he had led loads of children of all age groups in the one room school house. Mom said to him, “They don’t listen to me. How do you get kids to listen to you?”

Great grandpa leaned in real close and whispered, “You whisper.”

When Elijah ran out to Mt Horeb to be with God, cry out to Him, and hear His voice, the Lord came. But not in the fire or the wind or the storm. God doesn’t come loudly. God doesn’t yell at His children. (And He certainly never “smacks them upside the head with a 2×4.” I wish believers would stop saying He does that when they’re talking about God getting their attention! It’s an awful analogy and entirely inaccurate!) Because God doesn’t do that to His children! God is patient and kind and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. And His mercy is greater than we can imagine.

And so when the Father wants to get our attention the most, He leans in real close and He whispers.

So my mom gave it a try. And with some practice and time, we grew into a pretty quiet family who is pretty attentive to the voice of those around us. I mean, we all have our moments and shortfalls. But we’re not the kind of family who yells over each other to be heard. And I think it goes back to that one bit of wisdom from great grandpa… If you want them to listen, whisper.

Haven’t you noticed that too? Let’s look at every play date in the history of ever. When the kids are loud and wildly laughing or playing, the mom knows that all is well and somehow that means a mom can tune it all out and chat with her friend. But it’s when the kids get real quiet, that’s when a mother’s ears perk up and she stops talking to her friend and becomes suddenly very attentive to the sound of her children. And when she gets quiet to listen and still can’t hear their voice, that’s when she excuses herself and quickly makes her way to find the children to make sure that they’re 1.) alive, 2.) still present, and 3.) not whispering because they are up to mischief. Am I right? It’s the whispering and the quiet that we do not tune out. That’s how we tune out the world around us and pursue God’s voice too.

It works the same way for kids too. When the parents are chatting away, the kids tune them out. But ironically, when the voices hush and get quiet in the conversation, the kids draw near and know that means they speak of something important. Curiosity brings them in closer with big big ears trying to find out what they are not supposed to know. Ha! Isn’t that so true.

We become more focused listeners when we learn to hear the whispers over all the noise.

It’s the whispering and the quiet that makes us want to know what are they saying and what are they up to! The whispering gets our attention. Whispering communicates that what someone is saying is very important. And whispering requires a level of intimacy and trust because you have to physically draw near and get closer to the person who whispers so you can hear them better. Honestly, you don’t speak in whispers to just anyone. And that’s a parable for prayer.

So the next time the Holy Spirit whispers to you, tune out the noise, draw near, and pay close attention. Because if He is whispering, it’s important and good and it’s something you really don’t want to miss!