Noise is everywhere.
This time of year seems to just amplify that reality. All you have to do is go to the mall and listen as the Christmas music that’s piped through the less than adequate sound system. Go to McDonald’s and hear the hustle and bustle of yelling children. Even in churches through the Advent season you’ll hear more and more children playing with their toys, crumbling papers, coloring, and calling for mom to pick them up.
In a world filled with noise, we’re hard pressed to find a place to find God. The noise seems to distract us from where He might be found. And this brings us to the second stop in our unexpected places tour. Silence.
There’s a story in the Bible in a book called 1 Kings where a man named Elijah tries to find God. There are a series of noises that come his way. They are loud and boisterous sounds. Powerful displays of might. But God wasn’t in any of them. While Elijah is tucked into a little cave on the side of a mountain, a gentle breeze-like whisper comes through. And oddly enough this is right where God is found.
And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:12-13
The gentle breeze. The whisper of God. We tend to look for God in the power moments and the big lights. The huge tree of Christmas or the fully decked out house. But God doesn’t roll like that. Instead He comes in unassuming ways. A gentle whisper on a dark night. But why a whisper.
A whisper draws us in. The loud moments put us on our heels. They make us cower in fear. They push us farther into the caves of life. But the whisper allows us to lean in. We have to come forward to hear the words and experience the presence of the one speaking.
The long expected gift of Christmas comes not in the loud and gaudy but in the soft, quiet, gentle whisper that we have to lean into in order to hear fully. Lower your voice. Quiet your mind. Listen for the unexpected whisper of God this Advent.