The first reading today is one of my favorites: When Elijah goes to Mt. Horeb and waits for the Lord to come.

So much happens that must have been overwhelming: an earthquake, a fire, a gale.

I would read that as: the latest political disaster. An economy on the brink of collapse. The latest celebrity scandal, perhaps. The latest ding from that social media app on our cell phone. The drama at work.

Elijah knows, somehow, that the Lord isn’t in any of those things so demanding of our attention.

The Lord comes, as promised, but only in a tiny whispering sound. In a gentle breeze. A still, small voice.

That is so often the case with us. If we do not take time to sit in the silence with God’s Word and wait for Him to speak to us in that still, small voice, we very well may not hear Him.

Luckily, He is merciful. I’ve known Him to shout when I truly need Him to, and however often in the past you and I have missed His voice, or disregarded His requests and His warnings, we can always turn back to Him. We can listen more earnestly, starting now.

I suspect the first thing we will hear from that still, small voice is a rejoicing at our return.

But make no mistake, in our world of action, busyness, and constant distraction from all quarters, especially technology, if we do not deliberately and explicitly make time for silent prayer with God–if we do not make an attempt to learn to embrace silence for that purpose–we will miss much of what the still, small voice of God desires to say to us.