The email and the still small voice

So I got an email today from Amazon Kindle Publishing. You see, I, as a Kindle user, support the platform in everyway and therefore signed up to have this blog published to the Kindle platform. It is also listed in their directory. This is all well good you may ask but why should you care.

Well the email was to notify me that I hadn't published a post in over 60 days (closer to 90) actually. They were sublty informing me that the blog consumer community expects frequent posts. That in order to gain traction and followers I needed more activity. And that in order to continue in the Kindle publishing program I needed to post soon or they would disable my account.

As I read an email all about how to gain popularity and better market my thoughts and ideas, the only thing I heard was the still, small voice of God. The conviction of the Holy Spirit whispering to mine. He said, "Isn't this blog all about wrestling with Me? Isn't it a place to outwardly express your inward growth and grapple with what it truly means to follow Me? Isn't it about engaging Me? Guess what, I don't care much about the needs or desires of the blog community, but I desire more frequent conversations. I desire to hear from you more than every 60 days. I demand you wrestle with My Word and it's implications to the world around you."

WOW! Now that isn't to say that I hadn't thought about God since my last post. That isn't even to say that I don't frequently think of Him and His Word. But the Spirit was loud and clear. My walk, my desire to know the LORD more intimately had been infrequent and inconsistent for the past few months.

I went and read 1 Kings 19:11-12. Because I had just heard the low whisper of God. I had just experienced the still, small voice. I realized that I had been experience fires and earthquakes for the last few months. And I have. Without going into depth, the last 3 months have been interesting. And I was looking for God in the chaos of my life. But what I haven't done is carve out time to hear the voice. Because though God is with me during the shaking and the burning, he speaks to me in the silence. He grows me when I listen. But no one can hear during chaos. Is there any sanctuary built into my life at all? Is there any time when I am not crying out for God but instead silently waiting and anticipating His Word.

I said on Sunday that my next step after the hearing sermon was to stop allowing the chaos to rule my life. I hadn't really acted on that. Today, God reminded me, there is nothing I can do to reclaim my life except: Stop, Listen, and Let HIM Work!