Turn down the volume

1 Kings 19:11-12 (ESV)

11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.

How do you relax after a long day? Where do you go when you are frustrated, stressed out, or needing answers? Do you lounge around in front of the TV or get on your smartphone or laptop?

Life, nowadays, moves so fast. Facebook, smartphones, and instant internet access have been dominating the world. People are constantly on the move going about their business at lightning speeds. Or they are wasting the days away keeping preoccupied.

Driving with the intent of only getting to where they’re going as soon as possible.

Walking and texting.

Netflix all night.

Sleeping till noon and then wasting the rest of the day.

Listening to music and while working.

God’s voice isn’t in any of that. The world is so deafening that it is hard the hear God speak.

There needs to be a time for it to be just us and God. We need to turn down the volume and tune out the world sometimes so we are able to hear what God is saying.

It’s hard when everything seems to desire our attentions: work, homework, deadlines, friends, Facebook, texts … But there are times where you need to fight for you time with God. It’s so important.

Hearing God is much harder when everything is literally at the push of a button. If the answer we are looking for is not there, we easily press another button to get an answer we like. We more often look for the answers we want to hear that look for the right answer because we are too impatient to slow down enough to hear God’s still small voice.

We need to eliminate the distractions, dig into God’s word, and turn down the volume.

Dear Lord, help us to turn down the volume. We pray that we would eliminate the distractions in our life so that we can hear Your voice as You speak to us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.