If we are going to hear God’s voice we have to tune out all others. We hear a million voices a day. Through news, social media, radio, podcasts, co-workers, family members, and ourselves, we are bombarded with chatter. Some of these voices are screaming louder than others. Some of these voices are more influential than others. The world is a noisy place and is getting louder and louder, moment by moment. Everyone is screaming their opinions without any filter of consequence. And every voice carries a significant amount of subconscious effect in us. 

In a famous university study conducted by Betty Hart and Todd R. Risley called The 30 Million Word Gap Hart said, 

“Simply in words heard, the average child on welfare was having half as much experience per hour (616 words per hour) as the average working-class child (1,251 words per hour) and less than one-third that of the average child in a professional family (2,153 words per hour). Extrapolated to the first four years of life, the average child in a professional family would have accumulated 560,000 more instances of encouraging feedback than discouraging feedback, and an average child in a working-class family would have accumulated 100,000 more encouragements than discouragements. But an average child in a welfare family would have accumulated 125,000 more instances of prohibitions than encouragements.”

Every voice we hear impacts us somehow, someway. As a kid, I remember going with my grandpa to hear Johnny Cash in concert and thinking what a deep voice this guy had. He commanded the stage with that voice. I still remember that moment and can hear his tone to this day. Imagine how impactful the voice of God is. It’s the voice that created the universe. The voice that commands the seas. The voice that makes Satan cringe. David the ancient King of Israel had an awesome experience with God’s voice. 

Psalm 29:3-9 (NIV)

3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon leap like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

I wonder if David experienced all this firsthand. Could you imagine seeing all this take place? The cedar trees of Lebanon are beautiful evergreens grown in the mountains. They can reach up to one hundred feet in height and grow to six feet in diameter. Yet, they split with one sound wave carrying the voice of God.  I picture God whispering one word and these trees just imploding at the sound of His voice. God’s voice is powerful. It can change everything in our life.  

But in order to hear the powerful voice of God, we have to limit the other voices around us. The chaos of a cluttered life can cause signal interference with our spiritual receivers. The busier you are listening to everyone else the less you hear God’s voice. If you are going to tune in to God’s frequency you have to tune out the other frequencies. This might mean you have to turn off your phone…wow…mind blown! Did you know there is actually a button where you can turn off your phone’s social media notifications? It’s amazing technology! Believe it or not, you can choose to silence the noise of everyone around you. I know it may cause you to go into cardiac arrest, but it’s possible to take back control by controlling what you allow in your life.

If you want to tune in to God, tune out everything else.