There is a story about four women who were playing bridge in the recreation room of a California retirement center.  In the middle of the game one of them noticed a rather handsome older gentleman walk into the room.  Hello, she said.  You must be new here.  I don’t recall meeting you before.  To which the man replied, I just moved here this morning.  A second lady at the card table asked: Well, where did you come from?  Without a moment’s hesitation, he responded: San Quentin.  I was just released after thirty years.  Oh my, said the third lady, why on earth were you in there . . . and for such a long time!  The older man calmly replied:  I murdered my wife.  Whereupon the fourth lady sat up in her chair and, flashing the older man a smile, said:  Oh!  That must mean you’re single!

In his book, Bright Intervals, Robert A. Beringer writes:  Is it not amazing how often we hear only what we want to hear?  We are living in a time when we have the technology to listen to a baby while it is still in its mother’s womb, or we can listen to the sounds of life on the ocean floor or even on some distant planet.  But so very often, we cannot hear the people around us.  Even more important, with all our talking and our busyness, we often cannot hear the voice of God. (CSS Publishing Company, Lima OH; 1999, p. 36)

What is really odd, however, is that when we cannot hear God’s voice because of the noise, confusion, and busyness that so often fills our days we want to place the blame in the wrong place.  In place of admitting we are the ones who should slow down, we insist the problem is that God refuses to speak.

In the book of I Kings we are told the story of Elijah – a mighty prophet who took it upon himself to kill the prophets of Baal.  The Queen became angry and sent him a message promising she would do to Elijah what he had done to her prophets.  What is amazing is that Elijah actually blames God for his dilemma!  The day finally came when he is told to prepare himself to meet the LORD.  As Elijah approaches the mouth of the cave in which he had taken refuge there was suddenly a strong and powerful wind, but God was not in the wind.  After the wind there was an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake there was a fire.  After the fire there was silence.  When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle . . . (I Kings 19:13)

Like Elijah, the time comes when all of us should stop talking for God and start listening to Him.