Guidance Is Often Found in the Whisper And Not The Shout

​Sometimes I can get to feeling like pain and struggle are the only things standing in between me and success. Between me and contentment. But what if what those things are really doing - pain and struggle - is standing between me and God's voice?

Sometimes pain and struggle feel much more challenging because they disconnect me from the voice that wants to help me make sense of them. The voice that wants to create something from them. I can get so caught up blaming God for allowing the things I feel are standing in my way that I never stop to ask God how these things can actually help me make some way.

It's as if all my life I've been in the midst of practicing struggle for the big day God wants to use my struggle - and today is that day - GAMEDAY - and I can't hear the coach's voice.

Practice helps us become prepared for our big moment, but it's a relationship that ultimately makes us most effective in that moment.

I think about our military. They train endlessly and tirelessly for crisis situations. But when that crisis situation comes, it is still necessary for them to lean into the voice of a commander who will help guide what they are about to do with all the preparation.

I also think about the story of Elijah. Elijah was waiting to hear from God, hear some guidance about what he was suppose to do with a great struggle. So he went to a mountain in order to hear from him.

The bible tells us:

"A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper. When Elijah heard the quiet voice, he muffled his face with his great cloak, went to the mouth of the cave, and stood there. A quiet voice asked...."

Too often I can be found trying to shout over the chaos of my struggles - or plow recklessly right through them, creating only more chaos on the way - with hopes that is the path to God's voice. The path to the coach's direction. But sometimes the key isn't to plow but to find the quiet whisper.

To CREATE the quite whisper....

Sometimes the coach doesn't want to yell above our chaos, sometimes the coach wants us to call a timeout, find a quite place to huddle with him, and simply listen.

It can get to feeling like we aren't prepared for gameday. I get that. Quite well. But often that's because we're talking to ourselves about our readiness - (and do we ever really feel prepared) - and not listening to the coach. We get too focused on our capabilities and not on a relationship.

God wants to guide me, but rarely is he going to barge through my chaos to do so.

Frequently God is going to patiently wait for me to create space for the whisper. And then, for me to listen to the coach's voice.