Waiting in the Silence

Cell phones, pagers, blackberries, I-pods, gameboys, satellite radio, HDTV, hi-speed internet... There are a lot of technological advances out there to fill our lives so we can always stay connected to the fast lanes of the global village or avoid the perils of boredom...

Are we, though, as Neil Postman wrote in his thoughtful book "amusing ourselves to death," as a culture??

Elijah was a prophet who always seemed to be on the run to or from something... that is until God showed him how to slow down and listen in the silence:

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in
Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day's journey into
the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might
die. . . .

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the
LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."
Then a great and powerful wind tore the
mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in
the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the
earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the
fire. And after the fire came a still, small voice.

13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and
stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him,
"What are you doing here, Elijah?"

All too often we go through life filling up our days with distractions, busyness and escapes... then when we can't take it any more we cry out to God to "show us a sign" or "get us out of this jam just once," so we can go back to our hurried, distracted existence.

How often, though, in our prayers to we take time to listen in the quiet to the still, small voice of God?

Prayer is listening to God speak to our hearts. What is that still, small voice of God speaking to your heart today?