The Still, Small Voice and Its Rivals

In this chapter Dallas Willard helps us understand some of the ways a person might receive guidance from God. If you have made it this far in the book you will be familiar with many of the forms of guidance; perhaps you have experienced a few yourself. Each form of guidance has its benefits, and none should be disregarded, but throughout this chapter Willard will repeatedly point to one form as ultimate — the still, small voice.

The "still, small voice," is taken from 1 Kings 19:12. After several magnificent displays of power, the prophet Elijah finally heard the Lord speaking, not in the fire, wind, earthquake, etc, but in a gentle whisper. This, says Willard, is the place we should expect to grow as we seek to develop a conversational relationship with God. One who hears God "whispering" to them in and through their thoughts, has developed a union with God that is much closer than many of the other ways of interacting with the Lord.

Sadly, many people overlook the gentle guidance of God to seek the explosive guidance of God. These explosive moments are wonderful, and shouldn't be despised, but the problem with expecting God to speak in that way is that it leaves one with a God that is constantly having to create drama to have a conversation. So while these may happen from time to time, they should not be the normal expectation. However, as with all forms of divine guidance, they all deserve an honest inquiry into what the Lord may be saying.

One story of an explosive communication from God is the story of Virginia Lively. Virginia claims to have experienced the visible presence of Christ for 3 straight months. This experience impacted her life and ministry tremendously. There are a few ways that people will respond to stories like Virginia's. Some will outright disbelieve her. Others will attribute it to her emotional state — "perhaps she was hallucinating." Others will just be confused by it. These are all normal responses. But there will also be those that, "confuse the medium with the message and will worship the experience rather than the One who, supposedly, was present through it." In other words, they will elevate the Virginia Lively's of the world, simply because of what happened to them. Such people will also seek for these things to happen to them, and get discouraged when they do not. (Later on in the chapter Willard says, "When the spectacular is sought, it is because of childishness in the personality.") The same can be applied to those who have been visited by angels, or something else of the supernatural variety.

Another way God guides is through dreams and visions. Accounts like these are vast in the Bible. Like the supernatural occurrences listed above, dreams and visions play an important role in divine guidance. When one has a dream or vision, it is good to pray about them and, if appropriate, share it with a wise and spiritual leader who can help with discernment. But, like the supernatural occurrences, dream and visions should not be elevated to a primary way of being with God. For one who received a dream or vision isn't in a fully conscious state, but they are asleep or in a trance-like condition. As such, it will always be more difficult to understand clearly what one is meant to do as a result of the vision or dream. (Later on Willard writes about "How obscurity can serve us." He says, "God in his mercy often speaks to us in obscure ways in order to allow us the room and time we need to respond. He lets us know that we are indeed being addressed but also that we need to stretch out in growth in order to receive the message.”)

In short, Willard believes that the more dramatic the form of guidance is, the more uncommon it will be. In other words, while we should believe that these things could happen to us, we shouldn't expect them to happen. Instead, we should look at the way God constantly spoke to people, and seek to know him in those ways. In the rest of the chapter Willard will discuss two of those ways.

The human voice. If one reads through the Bible it will be relatively easy to count the visions, dreams, visitations, etc, that occur in Scripture. But if one were to try to number the times God spoke using a human as the medium, we would be working for a long time. As Willard says, "no means of communication between God and us is more commonly used in the Bible or the history of the church than the voice of a definite, individual human being." This, according to Willard, is the primary objective way in which God addresses us from outside our minds.The reason this way of guidance is most prominent is because, "it most fully engages the faculties of free, intelligent beings who are socially interacting with agape love in the work of God as his co-laborers and friends." In other words, it is through partnership with people who have become friends of God that they work together to deliver his word. Or, as Willard said, it is God speaking "in union with human beings."

The human spirit or the "still, small voice." "This," says Willard, "is the primary subjective way that God addresses us. [It comes from] within the experience of the person addressed, the form of one's own thoughts and attendant feelings is the most common path for hearing God for those who are living in harmony with God." This may come as a surprise to many, but a general reading of Scripture will reveal its prominence and power. A persons spirit is the part of them that receives life directly from God (who is Spirit). They are, "like a tree planted by streams of water" (Psalm 1). The tree planted by streams of water receives its life in a place that people can't see. So it is with those who are spiritually mature. They constantly commune with God in their thought life, in their spirit, in their self-knowledge and self-awareness. In other words, they have become one with Christ.

As we grow in grace, God's laws increasingly form the foundation of our hearts; his love is our love, his faith our faith. Our very awareness of our actions, intentions and surroundings then bears within it the view that God takes, bringing things into the clarity of his vision just as a candle might illuminate what is on our dinner table.The spirit of the individual truly is, therefore, the "candle of the Lord," in the light of which we see ourselves and our world as God sees. In this way we are addressed by him, through our own thoughts. 

Side note: I have experienced this from time to time. A while back I spent time meditating on Colossians 3:1-17. My goal was to bring my mind under its power. In other words, I disciplined myself to hear from the Lord objectively, but as I did so, I began experiencing the Lord speaking subjectively. I began to feel led. A thought would enter my mind from nowhere. A solution to a long problem would come to me while on runs. I was also challenged with repetitive thoughts that I believe were the Lord's way of leading me.

As Willard said, "the thoughts and feelings in the mind and spirit of one who is surrendered to God should be treated as if God were walking through one's personality with a candle, directing one's attention to things one after the other." This is something that can be practiced now. As you surrender to God, begin seeking to hear his word, as you seek to hear his word pay attention to your thoughts. You will discover that the Lord is, and always has been, speaking to you in the secret place all along. As you hear and obey (remember that you've set your intentions already, so obedience is a must), you will become the kind of person that experiences the life of God bubbling up on the inside. Your life will begin to resemble those historic saints who were seemingly unphased by the external experiences of life. And that will be your experience because your life comes from God, not from what happens to you. You will have the peace and love of God dwelling within.What a place to be! What a life to lead!

I'll close this post with another quote from Willard:

The rivals of God's voice—still and small, still and within—continue to be necessary, and have their place. But as we are earnestly seeking God, we get beyond the need to have big things happening to reassure us that somehow we are all right, and possible that others are not. Then we begin to understand and rejoice that (as Jesus so clearly lived and taught) the life of the kingdom is "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17).

Take some time to hear God in Scripture by reading and praying through Proverbs 20:27, and 1 Corinthians 2:9-13, 15-16. If you like you can use the method I adopted from Jeanne Guyon.