When sorrow comes your way and people ask, “What is the Lord teaching you in all this?” Do you ever panic and say, “I don’t hear His voice yet, the storm is too loud!” Have you been in such an emotional storm that you couldn’t hear God’s voice above the noise? Have you ever cried out, “I can’t hear you, Lord—shout louder”?
One day, Elijah was standing on a stormy mountainside. He discovered that God wasn’t in the storm, the fire, or the earthquake that he experienced (1 Kings 19:11). “After” the commotion died down, he heard “the still, small voice” (1 Kings 19:12, NKJV). Sometimes, as in Job’s case, God speaks “out of” the storm (Job 38:1), but many times He speaks “after” it is all over and done with. In my experience, the storms of life are so loud that the still small voice is all but lost in the winds of worry or the thunder of unwelcome circumstances. But “after,” there is a chance to listen, regroup, and compute the lessons of the storm.
After my mother’s funeral, I went on a mission trip to Africa. The storm of sorrow had already raged through my body, soul, and spirit. It had fallen to me to plan the funeral and see to many details. Since the family had not been anticipating her death, there were unprepared tasks that needed doing. Add to this a limited time frame and there was literally no time to stop and listen to God, no time to center down. But “after the storm,” in the long flight to Africa and then in the missionary conference, the opportunity came. I was able to sit and listen to godly people talking about God’s work and His workings. It was then that the whispers of His grace began their healing work in my heart.
I remember the morning of the funeral, after an exhausting night with a few hours of sleep, grabbing my Bible and frantically trying to “tune in” to the right channel. I only heard confused half sentences as I searched for the right frequency. I cried out, “Shout louder, Lord, I can’t hear You!” God was not in the earthquake, the wind, or the fire. In His strange permissive will, He let it all happen, then “after” it was over—I heard.
If you are in a “noisy” place of trouble and God does not appear to be speaking, if the winds of worry are flattening you and life's uncertainties are terrifying you, all you can do is try to ride out the storm. But, “How do I do that?” you ask. Let me try to be practical.
WHEN YOU CAN'T HEAR GOD ABOVE THE STORM
1. Do what you need to do.
Try to function. Make lists of things you must accomplish. Take extra trouble with the things you list. One task on my to-do list was to purchase flowers for the funeral. I remember walking into the shop thinking, This is unreal. There in the store was a husband buying roses for his wife and middle-aged ladies ordering blossoms for a party. How I envied them! I turned my attention to my heart-rending task. I had never taken so much time and trouble over flowers before, but there was help in trying to do the best for my beloved mother. Though it took me over an hour and the bouquets would not survive long lying starkly over the ice in the churchyard, there was relief in the doing of it all.
2. Help others.
Do something helpful for someone else caught up in the trauma with you. Others have no doubt been hit by the same lightning bolt as you have. Help them onto their feet by being practical. Take their kids off their hands for an hour, add some of their to-dos to your own list, or just take ten minutes to let them cry or talk.
3. Live one hour at a time.
Make a conscious effort not to live in the dreaded time to come. It may not be bad at all, and you will have wasted needed energy. Dread deadens the mind, ties your stomach in knots, and paralyzes you. When you first catch your mind playing you some vivid, terrifying movie, switch it off and busy yourself with something mundane and normal, like cleaning out the fridge.
4. Praise.
Praise is a sacrifice when you are in pain. The Scriptures say that we must offer “the sacrifice of praise” (Heb. 13:15). If you cannot hear God’s voice above the noise, determine that He will surely hear yours! I can’t tell you what to praise Him for. Just start with the words, “Thank you, Lord, for…” and the rest will come.
Not long ago, in the midst of a personal storm, I had to drive a long way. I prayed in tears for an hour of that trip. Spent, I fell silent. I was prayed out. Then I seemed to hear Him whisper,
“Try praising.”
“What for?” I answered sullenly.
“Anything,” said the voice.
So, I started praising Him for things that had nothing to do with my situation… since I could not see anything worth praising for in it! Gradually, my mindset enabled me to begin thinking of much I could praise Him for within my circumstances. Praise released my bound spirit and took me well on the way out of the valley of despondency.
After the storm has passed, make sure that you give yourself time and space, quiet and rest, specifically to hear the whispers of His grace. He will help, heal, and heap your heart with blessings.
5. Recruit a prayer partner.
When you can’t hear the whispers of His grace over the cracks of thunder, your Christian friends may well be in clear weather at the time and can hear Him perfectly well. Ask them not only to pray for you, but to relay His whispers to you. I usually ask my prayer partners, “What word do you have for me from the Lord?” I have found immeasurable help in this.
6. Don’t worry if you don’t grieve right away.
There has been so much written about grief and how we should do it, how necessary it is, and how it follows this pattern or that, that we can take on needless guilt by thinking that we aren’t grieving “properly.” Grieve we must, but grief is individual. Give yourself permission to work through your grief your way, whatever it may be, and gently ask others to allow you that space. It was eight years until I cried after my father died, yet I had worked through my grief well without the tears. With my mother, it was tears all the way! Not only are we different from each other, but each time we grieve can be different, too.
So, if you are frantically trying to “tune in” to the whisper and are saying frantically, “Shout louder, Lord, I can’t hear You,” wait it out and look forward to the storm passing. God will surely meet you there.
