The Power of a Whisper

I came across an advertisement for a new Bill Hybels book called The Power of a Whisper. I’ve heard people describe the way they hear from God as a kind of physical response…like the hairs on their arms standing up or getting really hot. Sometimes God screams at me, but I usually call that the voice of the enemy. Mostly I’ve learned to recognize his voice as a whisper.

The subtitle, Hearing God and Having the Guts to Respond, well…that’s a whole other story. I beg God to show me what he wants me to do and then reject every instinct until he gets it right. Something new has happened, though. With no itinerary, no roadmap, no visibility, no windshield wipers, no guard rails, and the fuel gage shining orange…I learned to inch my way along some unknown path simply by listening to the sound of his voice.

And because I can now look back and see that he has taken me down a beautiful road – like looking through an arboreal tunnel after a drenching rain and seeing the glinting reflection of all those drops magnifying the beauty all around me – I trust that I know what his voice sounds like. And because I recognize his whisper, it’s so easy to “have the guts to respond.” Of course, I’ve not been asked to sacrifice my son on an alter so I use the term easy with qualifiers.

I love that I can see just a bit further down the road than before, but to be honest I pray that I never fully get that long distance view again. I like the necessity sometimes created by struggle that compels me to relinquish control. I like listening to the rustling sound of my Creator preparing a life for me that requires my cooperation to recognize its true beauty.