At some point in our lives, most of us are confronted with a situation of having to make an important decision. It can be regarding a new career path, marriage, children’s future, health or something else. Sometimes during these moments all the options available look good and that makes the decision even harder. Like me, I have heard of others also asking the question “What will God want me to choose?” How easy life would be if God sent us an email or a text message telling us what His preferred choice would be and we could act accordingly or even better, if God could give us a “sign”. But the reality of life is that God does not operate in that way today even though we read in the Old Testament how God spoke to His people and communicated His will to them.
Traditionally, theologians speak of the three basic ways in which God continues to speak to us even today. The Book of Psalms often speak about how God reveals Himself through creation: The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display His marvellous craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or a word; their voice is silent in the skies; yet their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to all the world… (Ps 19:1-4). The New Testament speaks of Jesus as God’s revelation: If you have seen me you have seen the Father (Jn 19:4). St Paul in his letter to the Hebrews says God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world… (Heb 1:1-12). The Second Vatican Council in Gaudium et spes states that Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a man. There he is alone with God, Whose voice echoes in his depths. In a wonderful manner conscience reveals that law which is fulfilled by love of God and neighbour (GS 16).
The “problem” today is not that God does not reveal Himself, but rather that we have no time to sit back, relax, and discover Him. Our lives are filled with activities so much so that the noise which surrounds us crowds out the voice of God. From the time we wake up in the morning till we lay our heads upon the bed at night, we are filled with things to do. Sometime even in prayer we are planning what to do next.
The account of God appearing to Elijah in the gentle breeze should guide us in finding God (cf. 1 Kings 19:11-13). Therefore, it would seem that the problem is not that we cannot hear God speaking, but God cannot speak because no one is hearing what He is saying. God does not need to speak louder to reveal Himself but we need to become quieter. It is only then we begin to understand His ways: For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him (Ps 62:5).
