It can be hard to hear God in the busyness of life. Take today’s lesson to hear how to listen better.
“And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” 1 Kings 19:12b
There’s a moment just before the performance begins where the lights go down and the symphony tunes. It’s a strange, cacophonous sound, nothing at all like the music that will start a few minutes later. I love that sound. It sounds like anticipation. It’s a sound that tells you that something wonderful is about to happen.
Tuning is not a warning bell; it’s an alignment. One musician plays a single note, always the same note, and each of the instruments joins in. They play, they listen, and they adjust and play again. They keep going until all the sounds blend together, until there are united and aligned, in tune.
I love the line in the old hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” that says, “tune my heart”. I want that. I want my heart to sound like God’s. Did you know that if you put two grand pianos in a room and play a note on one of them the corresponding string in the other piano will start to vibrate? I want the note God is playing to resonate in my heart.
In 1 Kings, God tells Elijah to go and stand on a mountain where He will pass by. There is wind and fire, even an earthquake, but God is not in the wind or the fire or the earthquake. God comes in a gentle whisper. I need to be still and hear that whisper; I need to tune my heart to it.
I cannot do the things God has planned for me if my heart is out of tune. No matter how carefully I try to serve God, if my heart is out of tune it’s all just garbage. I think it’s so interesting that even professional musicians have to tune and they tune every single time they play. I want my life to be like that, to begin every day by listening for the voice of God and moving my heart – dragging it along sometimes – until my heart, my attitude sounds like God’s. I want to go through my days in tune with Him.
Father, As the hymn says, “Come, thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace”. Teach me to stop and listen for your whisper. Keep me still until the song of my heart sounds like You. Mold me so that when people hear my words and see my actions they think of You. Thank you for being patient with me. Tune my heart. I’m listening. Amen.
