At the end of the movie, Finding Normal, Dr. Shelby says we don’t follow our path because we are looking for a scream and not a whisper. After watching the movie, this verse kept whispering in my mind. It reminds me of what others have spoken of regarding our inner voice. It is one of the ways I believe God talks to us, but we either shut it out or we plainly don’t listen. We want large miracles like the blind being able to see or someone who can’t walk to be able to walk. We want to win the lottery. We want these things or we don’t believe or we don’t listen.
From experience there is not always trumpets. Sometimes there are whispers. Think about the worker who spends two hours on the road everyday, more than nine hours working, comes home to take care of his/her family, and then works again on their computer. In-between they are eating fast food, smoking, and not sleeping correctly. They begin to gain weight and have aches and pains. The voices tell them along the way to breathe, to rest, to drink water, to take time for themselves, etc. The voices tell them to find ways to not stress.
My belief is God wants us to be alive and well. Consequences for not listening in this scenario ends up being things such as divorce or a heart attack. The worker perhaps is following the golden dollar or wanting more power, but the worker never finds enough money or power because they keep wanting more stuff or more dollars and there is always someone more powerful. One of the best lessons my father taught me is there will always be someone richer, better looking, or smarter than you so if you spend your life concentrating on these things you’ll never be happy.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe God wants us all to prosper. However, he does not want us to prosper alone. He wants us to have free will and not be robots, but he also wants us to allow him into our world. He wants us to remain in a relationship with him whether life is shouting with big life moments or when there are whispers and life is quiet. Yes, there is a degree of happen-stance in life, but also think there is a degree of divine purpose. For instance, a woman who is now a celebrity once said she had a great idea for a show, but didn’t know who to talk to about her idea and then a television producer who ended up producing her show was sitting next to her on a plane. Do you think this was happen-stance or a divine moment? Do you think she was listening to the whispers? At times the whispers may not be what we expect. For instance someone who grew up in the city ends up living in the country. Someone who thought being partner was the most important thing to happen and then one day the dream changes. A woman who imagined selling on the internet, but found for her business this wasn’t the answer. For me the answer is to not just chase the trumpets, but to listen to the whispers in the storm. For me some of my most profound moments such as the book series, leaving jobs, deciding to adopt, etc. wasn’t because there were huge signs, but because I listened to God’s whispers.
