And He said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.”

1Kings 19:11-13

It’s loud out there.

In our digital age, we are constantly bombarded with messages demanding our attention—notifications, headlines, opinions, alerts. The noise follows us to work, fills our homes, and sometimes even seeps into church. With so many voices competing for space in our minds, it’s fair to ask: How do we hear the voice of God through the clutter?

In the encounter described in Books of Kings, God promised to reveal Himself to Elijah. And He did—but not in the way Elijah might have expected. God was not found in the mighty wind, the powerful earthquake, or the consuming fire. Instead, He came in “a low whisper”—what the King James Version calls a “still, small voice.”

How often do we expect God to speak through a spiritual loudspeaker, when He is inviting us into something quieter and more intimate?

God still speaks. He speaks through His Word, through His creation, through faithful teaching and wise counsel—to those who have ears to hear. The issue is rarely His silence. More often, it’s our distraction.

In The Pursuit of God, A W Tozer writes, “If you would follow on to know the Lord, come at once to the open Bible expecting it to speak to you. It is more than a thing; it is a voice, a word, the very Word of the living God.”

That’s an invitation.

Maybe becoming better listeners starts with simple steps: setting aside intentional time, silencing unnecessary noise, opening Scripture with expectation, and asking God to soften our hearts. The Shepherd still speaks. And when we slow down enough to listen, we may find that His whisper carries exactly what our souls need.