Frequency

Learning to Tune Into the Whisper

Photo by Luca Volpe on Unsplash

My three-year-old just discovered how much he loves walkie-talkies. We spent hours trading secret code words over the radio waves, his smile lighting up every moment.

Until the silence came.

“Dadda, why not listen to me?”
“Dadda, Dadda, Dadda… you there? Don’t leave me!”
“Please answer me, Dadda!”

His laughter turned to tears. To him, silence felt like being abandoned. The truth is, I was still there; I hadn’t gone or stopped playing. We were just on different frequency channels.

But that’s the thing about silence; it can feel like loneliness.

When Silence Hurts

Few experiences are more harmful than silence. Neuroscientist Naomi Eisenberg from UCLA states that social rejection, exclusion, or loss are some of the most ‘painful’ experiences. She explains that social rejection and isolation activate the same brain areas as physical pain, making social silence deeply impactful on our well-being.

I’ve felt that cut too.

Walking late at night, praying with everything in me, asking God to intervene, to mend what was broken, to show me His plan.

And then, silence.

When Heaven Feels Quiet

We imagine God speaking like a movie scene: thunder rolling, clouds parting, Mufasa’s voice echoing from the sky. “Remember who you are...” Or maybe we wait for a burning bush of our own. That come to Jesus moment, where it feels right to remove our shoes because we are standing on Holy Ground.

But that’s not always how God speaks.

Scripture tells us His voice isn’t always in the roaring fire, the quaking earth, or the tearing wind.

Sometimes, He speaks in silence.

Elijah’s Story

The prophet Elijah was very aware of this tension. In 1 Kings 18, he called down fire from the sky and prayed to end a three-year drought. Yet, just one chapter later, fear pushed him into the wilderness. Why? Queen Jezebel, a Phoenician princess and wife of King Ahab, had promised to silence every prophet of God.

Exhausted and scared, Elijah begged God to end his life. Instead, an angel led him to Mount Sinai. You know, the very mountain where God had once burned in a bush, carved the Ten Commandments, and sealed His covenant with Israel. If anywhere was safe, it was here.

And there, Elijah was told: “Stand on the mountain, for the Lord is about to pass by.” (1 Kings 19:11 NLT)

The Whisper in the Silence

And so Elijah stands on the edge of the mountain, waiting for God to speak. Bracing himself for the booming thunderous voice of the creator of the Universe.

But God wasn’t in the violent wind that split the rocks. He wasn’t in the earthquake or the fire either. Instead, He was but a silent, gentle whisper.

The Hebrew historian of 1 Kings describes it as qôl demamah daqqâh: “the gentle sound of silence.”

And Elijah covered his face, because he knew it was God speaking. (1 Kings 19:13 NLT)

The very silence that feels like absence can be the space where God speaks.

Learning to Listen

This doesn’t make sense…

Then again, as my three-year-old learned, it makes perfect sense.

You see, I think about him and the walkie-talkies. He wasn’t abandoned. He wasn’t ignored. He was just on the wrong channel.

Maybe we are too. Perhaps the silence we hear isn’t proof that God is absent but proof that we need to tune our frequency.

Jesus often said, “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” (Mark 4:23 NIV). It’s as if He were saying: Tune your heart. Switch channels. Don’t miss the signal.

Competing Voices

This is easier said (or read) than done.

Everywhere we turn, voices compete for our attention. Social media algorithms push us into echo chambers. Influencers sell us their version of the truth. So-called political experts argue about which side of history we’ll be on. Celebrities use their platforms to pressure us into compliance.

The noise is endless.

But God’s voice cuts through it all!

Not as a shout, but as a whisper. “The sound of a gentle whisper.” (1 Kings 19:12 NLT)

Adjusting the Dial

So maybe silence isn’t proof of God’s absence.

Maybe it’s an invitation to tune in.

To quiet the noise, switch channels, and adjust our hearts until His whisper comes through.

As Jesus said: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matt 11:15 NKJV).

So here’s the question: Do you need to adjust your frequency?