I arrived in Florida yesterday afternoon, to stay for 3 weeks and help out when my grandson makes his grand arrival. I was greeted by my lovely daughter with a “thank God you made it in time” hug and then a “what took you so long” embrace from her own darling daughter. It was a beautiful afternoon of chattiness and play and love.

Now, I’m up before anyone else, in a dark, quiet house. This is a house that’s typically quite full of sound, with its resident two year old and all of her accompanying noise. You factor in some Barney in the background, or a little Backyardigans, and possibly some toy noise, and you end up with a whirl of happy chaos. So, in the quiet, I’m realizing sounds that I’ve never noticed here before, like the gerbil on her wheel, for instance. I never hear that over the din. I can hear the A/C kicking on and off, a beep from something in the garage, and the ice maker. Certainly, these things are always happening, but they’re never really noticeable during the course of a noisy day.

All of this is a little ironic, because I awoke with a song in my head that I haven’t actually heard in a while.

In the secret, in the quiet place…in the stillness You are there. In the secret, in the quiet hour I wait, only for You, ’cause I want to know You more. I want to know You, I want to hear Your voice, I want to know you more…

You know, God is talking all the time. He’s speaking to our hearts, giving us direction, nudging us in the right direction. But without a little quiet, without a little time spent apart with just Him and the beat of your quiet heart, it’s hard to hear Him. With all the different voices we encounter during the course of a day, the harried pace and the chaotic busyness, His still, small voice can barely be heard. In my experience, the times He actually speaks with Charlton Heston flair are few and far between, so I have to be really intentional to spend time with Him in the quiet, learning the sound of His voice when it’s the clearest, so I can catch it when He speaks in the crazy.

If you feel like God doesn’t speak to you, try getting up a little earlier, or snatching some time out of your day to just be quiet. Just sit with Him and start talking, then ask Him to speak to you and listen. He will. And, once you do, you’ll begin to recognize the sound of His voice during the rest of your day. And my bet is that it finds you mighty thankful.

“Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.” Matthew 6:6 MSG

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” Psalm 119:103 ESV

“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” Jeremiah 33:3 ESV