Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone in a very crowded room? If you are anything like me, it can be pretty distracting. My mind tries to focus on every conversation including the one that I am supposed to be having. Often times, I react to someone else’s conversation and miss reacting to the conversation that I am supposed to be in.

Our relationship with God can be very similar to having a conversation in a crowded room if we are not careful. There are so many voices all around us trying to get our attention. Our minds may be trying to tune into another voice when we are supposed to be focused on God. It happens over time, but we may begin to allow those other voices to draw us away from the one that we were intended to be talking with. 

These other voices can come from various sources. They can come from our friends, our phones, they can even come from our own emotions. It can be hard to tune them out, but it is important to learn when to listen to them and when to ignore them.

In order to be able to recognize the voice of God you need to be intentional about listening for His voice. This means taking time to sit down, away from all the distractions and find his voice. We are good at distracting ourselves with all these other voices because we have associated them with happiness. Things that we should be guarding ourselves from have become the loudest thing in our lives, like social media. In order to begin to know God we must unplug from all of our distractions. Because when we are in a room with silence then we can begin to pick up on what the still small voice is saying. 

God is trying to talk with each and everyone of us, it’s not reserved for someone older or with more power. It is for you. But you may never be able to hear him or understand what he is trying to say to you if you don’t begin to limit what is allowed to speak into your life. 

God is trying to get your attention. Will you begin to take the time to guard yourself or will you continue to allow doubt and fear to dictate whether or not you hear god? I promise you if you begin to tune into that conversation that God is wanting to have with you will find that it is something worth listening to.

Akilah is currently an English Major at Arizona State University. She has taken courses in journalistic writing, studying the writings of classical works, as well as the way that languages are used throughout different cultures. In addition, She currently writes lessons for her job, Sunday School class, and personal writings such as poetry and short stories.