Where are we looking for God’s voice, and are we receptive to it?

Father Perry D. Leiker, pastor.

By Father Perry D. Leiker, pastor

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill.

When was the last time you heard God speak to you? Was it an audible voice? Did it come through Verizon? Or was it more like the experience of Elijah in the word of God today?

But even Elijah had some difficulty hearing the voice of God. He looked, or rather, listened and did not hear what he expected to hear. Nor did he find the voice where he thought it would obviously be.

Surely, it would be in the “strong and heavy wind” that was “rending the mountains and crushing rocks.”

But it wasn’t there that he heard the voice. No doubt it would in the “earthquake” or the “fire,” since these were also strong, powerful, mighty and quite impressive.

But no, it wasn’t there either that the voice of God was to be heard. The voice of God was only a whisper. The voice of God was in quiet and silence. The voice of God was profoundly unimpressive, yet it spoke directly to Elijah’s heart.

But in the Gospel today, the experience is quite the opposite.

It is in the midst of a mighty wind on the lake that was tossing the boat in huge waves that Jesus came to the apostles and invited Peter to walk across the stormy sea.

True, Peter faltered. But at Jesus’ beckoning he stepped into the rough waters and confidently (at first) began to walk to Jesus.

Fear, however, is a powerful thing, and it often overcomes our deepest convictions. Even then, Jesus reached out to Peter and pulled him back to safety.

When was the last time you heard God speak to you? Was it an audible voice? Did it come through Verizon?

Are we looking only in the dramatic and powerful places? Are we receptive to God everywhere in our lives?

Is God present in our struggles, our pain, our disappointments, our failures, our silence, our dramas, our sins?

Jesus asks Peter and ourselves very directly: “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?”

And doubting is OK. We aren’t perfect. We are very human. We all experience fear.

But hopefully we, too, will finally say: “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

Father Perry D. Leiker is the 14th pastor of St. Bernard Catholic Church. Reach him at (323) 255-6142. Email Father Perry at perry.leiker@gmail.com. Follow Father Perry on Twitter: @MrDeano76.