Wouldn’t it be so much easier if God made things really clear to us? I mean as clear as a brick wall or flashing neon sign. God, can you write it down for us in black and white? Could you tell us directly what to do? But alas, this is so often not the case, at least not in my experience. I also don’t think I am alone in struggling at times to see and hear God in all that’s going on. God, why don’t you make things clear to us? But the truth is that God is speaking to us and leading us, however, it’s often not as loud and obvious as we might think. 

In our Old Testament reading this Sunday, we read about how God spoke to the prophet Elijah. Elijah is crying out to God that he is on his own, and God says he will pass by Elijah. A strong wind came, but God was not in the wind. Then an earthquake came, but God was not in the earthquake. Then a fire came, but God was not in the fire. Then there was silence, and there in the silence was God. 

So often, we expect and hope for God to come to us in big, dramatic ways, like a fire or earthquake, but the truth is that more often than not, God comes and speaks to us in silence. The challenge with God speaking in silence is that we, too, need to be silent in order to hear him. We need not only to quiet our voices but also to quiet our hearts, minds, and souls so that we can be open to listening to God. Silence can be difficult, but I encourage you to persevere with it and trust that God will meet with you in the silence, like he has met with so many before.