Faith Matters | God is not silent. It’s that we just can’t hear him above the noise in our lives
It won’t come as a big surprise for readers to learn that as we age our range of hearing grows smaller. That’s why the hearing aid industry grosses over $14.5 billion a year.
The average person can hear in the 8,000-hertz range without aid. But generally, people over 40 can’t hear sounds reaching 15,000 hertz. The city of Philadelphia began to use a device called the Mosquito in their parks at night. The device generates a tone at 17,400 hertz that is only heard by those under the age of 18. It keeps young people from loitering in areas after dark. After sounds reach about 20,000 hertz, humans can’t hear it all. Anything above this level moves into dog whistle category.
No matter our age, however, we all sometimes have trouble hearing what we want to hear.
Everyone was made to hear the voice of God. We were designed to walk with Him, talk with Him, and hear from Him. We were designed to hear His voice when we need answers to life’s big questions. We were designed to hear Him say it’s going to be OK in life’s darkest seasons. Sometimes, just when we need it, His voice crystal clear.
And sometimes it’s not.
The silence from Heaven can be deafening in those times we need to hear His voice the most. We beg and plead. We cry and yell. And in return, all we get is silence.
We’re tempted in these seasons to think God’s not talking. We may conclude He’s given up on us or punishing us for some indiscretion. Over the years, however, I’ve concluded the issue, at least in part, isn’t that God’s silent. I think the issue is that we don’t hear Him.
After Elijah experienced God’s power on Mt. Carmel in 1 Kings 18, he runs for his life at the death threat of Queen Jezebel. When he finally stops, God invites him to step out of the cave where he’s hiding. He sends a great wind to pass before Elijah. But 1 Kings 19 says God wasn’t in the wind. Then there was an earthquake and a fire. Yet, again, God didn’t speak through these either. The passage then takes a strange twist and states the LORD spoke in a unique and surprising way. He spoke to Elijah in a “still small whisper”.
What if the reason we can’t hear from God, isn’t because He’s not talking, but because we can’t hear Him above the noise?
The radio is always on in the car. The news is always on in the house. The ear buds are always in while we exercise. We’re listening to podcasts, books on tape, and our favorite songs on Spotify. We even need noise machines to go to sleep. We fill our lives with noise. And the whole time, we wonder why we can’t hear from God.
The hearing aid industry may be huge. But I don’t think they’ve designed anything to help us hear God whisper.
Faith Matters is written by members of the Bradenton area clerical community. Phillip Hamm is senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Palmetto.
This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 5:00 AM.