What does God sound like when he speaks to you? I don't really know what I was expecting to hear. Maybe I was expecting something more booming and majestic, a voice like thunder.

It's hard to know what God will sound like, or if we should even be hearing him. Some people who've claimed to hear his voice have gotten into trouble. Joan of Arc, for instance. Some people say prayer is a supernatural conversation that involves speaking and listening, which means that God is going to say something to you. Others call it "lunacy", but God spoke to people in the bible all the time. I'd read about the prophet Elijah's experience with hearing the voice of God.

Do you know the story? It's found in 1 Kings 19:1-13. I'll sum it up here. Elijah was pooped out, and he ran for his life, ending up in a cave. God asked him a question, "what are you doing here, Elijah?". Then God told him to step our of the cave, on the mountain, "in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by". Not only was God speaking to Elijah, but God was about to make a physical appearance.

But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁰ Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”

¹¹ “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. ¹² 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. ¹³ 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?”

You see, God doesn't speak in the storms, earthquakes, fires and wind. He speaks in the whisper. I sense him asking me the same question. What am I doing here, with my life, with my days, with my moments?How do we find the time to listen to God when the calendar is packed full with other things? The answer is simple, be still and know that He is God.

In another version that is "cease striving, and know that he is God". That means to quit trying to so hard, to stop struggling. I don't know, but that sounds pretty good to me.