Examine with me, if you will, a typical morning at my house.
I’m awakened by screaming children because someone hit someone else over some toy or another, even though the hitter has a toy just like the hitee’s. Then someone else is crying because they feel bad that someone got hurt, and then someone else is worried about the possibility of the house starting on fire, or what if there’s a flood, and how will we save all the guppies?
The day continues pretty much this way, interspersed with meal times, school, and chores. The noise level is pretty average for a house with four children, and it’s not that anything out of the ordinary is really happening – it’s just loud, chaotic, and busy. I’m sure this sounds familiar.
Is it any wonder that in the midst of this noise, it gets difficult to hear the still, small voice of the Holy Ghost?
When my husband gets home at night, I often retreat to our bedroom for fifteen minutes and just relax, letting my ears cool off from the constant chatter. It’s in those fifteen minutes that I’m finally able to turn inwardly and acknowledge my own thoughts, and turn upwardly and hear what my Heavenly Father wants to say.
I’m put in mind of John the Baptist. He lived out in the wilderness, and we all know what he ate, and there’s no reason to go into that now. But the point is, he was alone for large amounts of time, and he communed with the Spirit on a regular basis. He had been chosen to baptize our Savior, and therefore we know he was not an ordinary man. He was a man who was close to God, who listened, obeyed, and then taught the things he’d learned. I do not find it any coincidence that this righteous man spent time by himself. I think he needed to distance himself from the hustle and bustle of the world so he could hear what the Spirit was saying to him.
I’m looking for more quiet times in my day, times when I can take a deep breath and ask the Lord what He would like me to do. It’s difficult and there are days when I can hardly find enough alone-time to brush my hair, let alone do anything else. But I do know that when I find those moments and I use them to ask, they become precious nuggets of time to me and I never regret the investment.
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