THE SECRET PLACE (5)

“And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a STILL SMALL VOICE” – 1 Kings 19:12

Maximizing the opportunity of THE SECRET PLACE calls for the Discipline of Listening: “And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a STILL SMALL VOICE” (1 Kgs 19:12). Living in God’s Secret Place goes with learning to Listen to His Voice. After defeating and destroying Jezebels’ prophets, Elijah caught wind of the queen’s ire and flee into the wilderness. There, he learnt new lessons about Listening in the Secret Place: The Voice of God comes not in a roar of the whirlwind or fire, but in the quietness of the Listening Heart. That’s how he encountered the Light of Divine Secrets. He had felt that he was the only prophet on God’s side, until the secret came: “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him” (v.18).

In the Secret Place, we learn the Sound of Silence, which means we sometimes have to stop talking, and listen into the depths. We not only listen to words, but between words, because the truth we seek can be found in the silence between the words. In Proverbs 2:1-2, a parent counselled the child: “My child, LISTEN to what I say, and treasure my commands. Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding” (New Living Translation). Enjoying communion with the Lord in the Secret Place demands Deep Listening – Stillness in the spirit: “Be still and know that I am God...” (Psa.46:10a). We’re able to listen better when we set aside our agenda and embrace God’s own.

Jesus’ whole life on earth was a Life of Listening to God the Father and promptly and obediently responding. The word for Obedience comes from the Latin root ‘obedere’, which means, “to listen attentively.” The opposite, deafness, comes from the Latin root “sourdis,” from which derives the word, “absurd.” Life becomes absurd or meaningless when we are deaf to God’s Voice within us and the world around us. Life gains meaning, order, and sanity as we become obedient – listening – to God’s Voice, shutting down the distracting voices within and around.

The art of conversation lies in listening. We cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else simultaneously. For one to be heard and understood, the other has to be silent! Maybe that’s why God gave us one mouth and two ears, so we would get the proportion of speaking to listening right. What deadens most people to God’s Presence within, is usually the inner dialogue that we’re continuously engaged in with ourselves, the endless chatter of human thought. There is nothing more crucial to spiritual comfort than being able from time to time, to stop that chatter. As we learn to Listen, we would understand, be wiser, and experience full, meaningful, impactful lives.