theROCK

A Still Small Voice

What do you hear when God speaks to you? What does the voice of God sound like to you? Do you know?

I frequently tell people stories that include phrases like: “and then God said to me…” or “I could feel the Holy Spirit nudging me…”. More often than not, if people say anything, they tell me God doesn’t speak to them. I know this to be impossible because there is absolutely nothing special about me. If God speaks to me, He speaks to you. He speaks to all of us.

I wonder if part of the problem is that we listen for His voice in the wrong places or ways. Like today’s first reading. The prophet Elijah is waiting “for the Lord to pass by” on Mount Horeb. Strong winds sweep the mountain, crushing stones.
But God is not in the wind. An earthquake shakes the very ground he stands on. But God is not in the earthquake. A fire breaks out upon the mountain, but God is not even in the fire. Instead, Elijah hears a whisper and bows before the Lord.

Don’t we often expect God’s voice to come to us in big, pronounced ways? Like our own burning bush moment or a James Earl Jones voiceover from the clouds. While God is certainly capable of big revelations like this, most often He speaks to us in that whisper—sometimes translated “a still, small voice” spoken in our hearts. We only need to be looking, listening, quiet, and calm enough to hear it.

 Instead of looking for God to set up a billboard for us, let us create that time and space to listen for His still, small voice speaking to us in our hearts.

A Face Full of Mud

Sometimes, we ask God for a miracle, and we end up with a face full of mud.

Many of us suffer greatly in this life. And in the midst of this suffering, we pray for assistance, for Divine intervention. We pray to Jesus our Healer to work a miracle of healing for us or for another.

Why not me? Why not this? Why not now?

Often, so often, our prayers are met with a no. Or worse, silence. When we are suffering deeply, knowing Jesus is indeed the One who Heals, yet remaining unhealed ourselves can be immensely painful. It can feel like rejection, like forsakenness. It can lead us to that feeling of abandonment that Christ experienced on the cross: “My God, why have you forsaken me?!” I know the pain of that cry.

Today’s Gospel passage has taught me a lot about that cry. Because sometimes, as we see in the Gospel, sometimes the way God works His miracles looks a whole lot like a face full of mud.

Unlike most of Jesus’ other miracles of healing, this miracle is not neat and tidy, it is dirty…literally. Jesus spits on the ground to create mud and rubs it all over the blind man’s eyes.

Additionally, this miracle does not take place immediately at Christ’s touch or word—it is delayed. Only after the man leaves Jesus and follows His instructions to wash the mud off does the miracle occur. There is a time of waiting. There is a time of uncertainty.

This is my word of encouragement for those of us who cry out for healing and are left without it: Maybe the answer isn’t a “no,” but a “not yet.” Maybe it isn’t the neat, tidy, miracle that allows us to “drop our crutches” at the door, which in truth is what most of us desire. Maybe it is a slow unfolding that we barely see or a set of circumstances that just don’t seem like they’ll lead to our healing—such as a face full of mud. Maybe Christ isn’t even focused on our physical, practical healing, because what He desires more is our spiritual healing and He’s going after that first. As a result, maybe we won’t get the healing we desire until we reach eternity. And that is hard to understand when met by the God-Who-Heals-and-yet-Won’t.

Our path is still the path of the blind man. Choosing to trust Jesus, even with a face full of mud. Following His lead, even when that means walking away without our miracle. And being ready to see His healing work unfold in our lives. We never really know how the Lord is working to answer our cries. But we do know He is. Maybe He just needs time to gather more spit.

Persistent Prayer

Do you ever feel like you are bothering God when you pray? Do you ever feel like your prayer may be so small and insignificant compared to the “big things” that plague other people? Do you ever feel like you don’t need to pray because you aren’t really “needing” anything? I know I slip into this mindset from time to time especially when I am praying with others about cancer, unemployment, and fears that haunt their consciousness but nothing “big” is going on in my life. Does that mean I shouldn’t pray? Absolutely not. There is always something to pray for or about. There is always something to tell God about even if it isn’t an “ask.”  Does that make my prayer insignificant in comparison to the “big things” others are praying for or about? NO! My prayer is my prayer. It is what is on my head and on my heart. My prayer is just as important to God because God loves me and wants to hear from me. He wants to hear what weighs on my heart and plagues my consciousness just as much as He wants to hear yours. He wants to hear it anytime and it brings Him great joy when it occurs.

Today’s gospel reminds us about the persistence of prayer. As I read it, I imagine the widow to be like the no-see-ums that swarm about me on warm summer nights outside. The judge views the widow as a pest like the no-see-ums. The judge wishes her to go away. He cannot ignore her but he wants to. I imagine the judge throwing up his hands and saying, “Fine! Here is my decision, now leave me alone!” He finally dealt the death swat to the pesky no-see-um. This is not how God works, not at all. God wants us to be like the no-see-ums and continue to pursue Him in prayer.  He will never throw His arms up in frustration and say, “Fine! Here you go!” Instead, God listens and responds as a loving father would respond. He will not provide all that we ask for in prayer. He will, however, always respond to our prayer with what is in our best interest.

When I catch myself focusing more on what I want, I add a little phrase to my prayer. It goes like this, “but of course Lord, only if it is your will.” Rather than looking for the answer that I want, I look for answers He provides. Look and listen with eyes of faith for He always answers our prayer. The more we ask, especially asking for His will to be done, the more our hearts soften to seeing how God responds. “Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.”