The Loudest Voice Wins

Ken Rice

I’ve been keenly aware lately of competing voices in my world. There never seems to be a shortage of messages competing for my attention.

We are bombarded with media, social media, friends, bosses, family members, spouses who all at the very least offer their well-intended thoughts and opinions or worse yet in some cases demand we listen. Then there is how we talk to ourselves. If you are anything like me, the worst and often the loudest voice can be our inner voice. Self-talk can ruin one’s day!

Contrast these voices to the most important voice we could ever listen to, the voice of God. I would say with no hesitation that if any other voices are drowning out God’s voice in your life something needs to change.

I love the story of Elijah, partly because of the stuff that guy did was simply astounding and partly because he often showed his humanness which I can relate to. One of the stories where he was showing his humanness and living a bit in fear, God brought him to a place and taught him to listen for His voice. It is captured in 1 Kings 19. Here is what is written in verses 11-13

““Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?””

1 Kings 19:11-13

I want to make mention that God was there in all the wind, earthquake and fire, he just wasn’t speaking to Elijah through these big loud events. But his presence was there.

Remember: ““Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by,

Our lives are full of storms, quakes and fires, tragedies and diagnosis’ that shake us to the core. God is present in all of those. He promises that He will never leave our side. I want to point out however that we might not be able to hear his voice clearly over the chaos around us in those situation without intentionally listening for it and purposefully positioning ourselves to hear. When we are in the midst of turmoil such as Elijah had found himself in, we need to learn to hush the other voices in order to hear His whispers.

His voice is heard in the gentle whisper, in the quiet, in the stillness.

The issue is that God is not normally going to engage in heroics to get your attention. He is not typically going to get into a shouting match with the other voices demanding your attention. I’m not saying He won’t ever do this, but I do confidently believe that is not His norm.

So the responsibility lies upon us to quiet the other voices. Some we can’t nor would it be appropriate to drowned out completely. We need to learn to turn down their volume in order to hear the whisper of God.

Some of the ways I personally have been able to accomplish this is by getting away and alone, going on a hike or a walk in nature, driving alone in my car with worship music playing, reading the Word of God with an expectant heart that I’m going to hear from Him. What works for you?

I’d love to leave you with this exercise. Today, what is the loudest voice in your life that needs to be at least turned down if not hushed and what is one step you could take to accomplish that?

Remember, His voice is heard in the gentle whisper, in the quiet, and in the stillness. Posture yourself to listen. I promise your life will never be the same.