How DO You Hear God’s Small Voice?

How do you hear God’s small voice?

What does it sound like?

I looked out the kitchen window one day and watched my four-year-old swinging on a bright sunny day.

His father gone too long to sea and no neighbors.

No friends visiting to play. He looked lonely and my heart contracted.

I dismissed the kitchen chores and chided myself. You should go outside and play with him.

Two steps took me to the door where I felt a “check.”

God had another idea for me.

“He has his entire life to fill with busyness and other people. There’s something to be said for idling in a swing and watching the clouds go by.”

My son leaned his head back and stared at the sky. I left him be.

Life is busy and it’s easy to avoid idleness.

Some argue idle hands are the devil’s playground and in some setting that may be true.

God’s voice gets drowned out too often

It’s hard to hear God’s still, quiet, and often small voice if it gets drowned out by hurly burly activity.

God gave us six days to labor and one day off to rest. We need that Sabbath in all its guises–physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually.

We need “down time” to pray, read, think, enjoy ourselves, and listen for a small voice.

Too many of us don’t make the most of that opportunities and we’re teaching our children the same.

A child needs to spend time dreaming, musing, getting bored.

It’s in those moments that creativity flows–for children as well as for adults.

As a musician, I learned long ago the value of the rest notation.

Think of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and how the rest is so crucial for impact.

That’s different, of course, from dawdling, staring at the sky, watching clouds go by, wondering if you should maybe put together or puzzle, or figure out how a stick can be a fishing pole if you could only find a piece of string.

Deliberately choosing a rest, a silence in the midst of cacaphony, gives your mind space to travel farther distances than your book, electronic screen or favorite music selection.

Quiet.

Silence.

Emptiness.

They have a role in letting us hear things we  missed. They let us imagine things we might not have considered. Dreams can form. You can solve problems or set a goal.

A child can grow into who he or she is.

My child grew up and his days are full and busy.

I’ve never regretted letting him spend a four-year-old day swinging alone–except for his imagination.