To hear from God
Photo by Mark Paton on Unsplash
Did you know that on average the daily noise level we experience is around 78 decibels?
The limit for extended exposure is around 85 decibels before hearing damage begins
An average sneeze, recorded at close range, measures out at about 90 decibels. That’s close to the decibel levels of a lawnmower.
The air conditioning or heating system you live with clocks in at about 60 decibels, which is about the level of a normal conversation.
The average bark of a dog clocks in at 80-100 decibels, close to a sneeze but far louder than your HVAC.
On average, our phone notifications ring out at around 80 decibels.
The average heavy metal concert hits between 115 and 120 decibels, but before we knock on heavy metal we need to know that orchestras run between 80-100 decibels.
We are surrounded by so much overwhelming sound, but in the middle of it all there are some things we really want to hear:
How to handle a situation
What to do with our lives
That we’re loved
In the exhaustion, frustration, and confusion we experience, we’re still trying to sort through the noise to find what matters.
Or, we’re not sure if we’ll EVER hear what we need to hear so we let the other sounds distract us. At least we’re hearing something.
In the middle of all of the desire and frustration, there is an even greater desire in us to hear from God.
But how do we do that?
We must begin with our belovedness.
Growing up, I lived with a scary and shaming picture of God. In that case, hearing from God was a “listen or else” scenario. The connection was tense, full of pressure, and if there was a failure to hear something it certainly wasn’t going to be God’s fault.
But what I have learned is this: The call to hear from God and take action is always given in relationship.
In the story of Jesus, there is a moment where Jesus is baptized by his cousin John in the Jordan River. As Jesus is coming out of the water, we hear this statement:
“And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)
God speaks into a moment of love, under the premise of love, with the purpose of setting that love loose in the world. It was an invitation to see God’s connection to people as one of love. Chasing after Jesus we learn how to live with - and listen to - God from our true identity as God’s beloved kids.
Hearing from God starts with the reality that we are God’s beloved kids in whom He is well pleased.
The earliest followers of Jesus called themselves children of God and Beloved:
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are…Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. (1 John 3:1-2)
So, what we hear from God has a lot to do with who we think God is and how God sees us.
A daily practice that helps us lean into our identity as the Beloved is what I call the “kingdom prayer,” and it comes from my friend James Bryan Smith:
I am one in whom Christ dwells and delights.
In Christ I am significant, safe, and strong.
I live in the unshakeable Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom is never in trouble, therefore neither am I.
We must listen creatively.
With God, we typically go to hear from God once the fertilizer has hit the fan and we have an intense and desperate need to hear God speak.
In the story of Elijah, the prophetic is wrung out and exhausted and at the end of his energy. At that point, there is nothing left within Elijah and he is coming to terms with being hunted and possibly killed. What now?
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. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave (1 Kings 19:10-13)
When we are at the end of ourselves and desperately need to hear from God we want the fire, the wind, the earthquake, and the upheaval in the speech of God. Instead, we get a gentle whisper. Why?
God’s speech to us is often too sacred for shouting.
God does not need to scream at his Beloved kids, especially when we’re at the end of our energy. That means we are invited to listen creatively to the sacred whispers of everyday life:
In the sizzle of frying eggs
In music
In the cry of red wing blackbirds
In the sound of my daughter’s laughter
In the Scriptures
In the act of serving others
In silence and prayer
A practice that helps with this is listening to creation.
Take some time to go outside, get away from screens and distractions and touch some literal “grass.” Listen to the wind and birdsong, feel the sun or the snow or the rain on your skin. As you do that, ask this question: ““What is the God who calls me Beloved whispering through the lives of these created things?”
Finally…
We must realize that being present is the point.
Confession time: I have never heard the audible voice of God.
Everyone hears from God differently - some people hear an audible voice, some feel an inclination in their stomach, and others hear God’s guidance through the wisdom of other people.
But there was a time when my wife heard the audible voice of God.
We were walking with my daughter through the challenges of anxiety, depression, hospitalizations, etc. We read every article, made every plan, planned for every contingency - and found out that it wasn’t always enough.
In that moment, God spoke to my wife saying: “I’ve got this.”
When we had no choice but to be present to our pain, to listen to the whisper, and to trust in our Belovedness (because it was all we had), that was when God spoke.
I’ve got this.
When everything else is stripped away, we realize being present to God is what matters most. That’s when we’re able to hear the sacred whisper that calls us Beloved and moves us on our way.
A practice that helps us stay present is a distraction fast.
First, we delete all of our social and content apps, email, Snapchat, etc.
Then, when we find ourselves reaching for our phone, instead look around and ask, “What is the God who loves us saying in this moment?”
We can then pay attention to what we hear, but we also pay attention to what frustrates us about this practice. What irritates us the most?
As you long to hear from God,
…may you know that you are God’s Beloved kid…
…may you listen creatively for the sacred whisper of God in the midst of chaos…
…may you realize being present to God is what matters most and eliminate the distractions that keep you from that presence.
