Your phone may be the loudest voice in your life — and it’s drowning out God. Silence used to be part of our lives. You’d take a walk with only your thoughts. Wait in line without checking your feed. Sit at a red light without checking email. But somewhere along the way, the stillness got replaced by scrolls, likes, buzzes, and pings.
I may be showing my age, but I remember when our family got our first telephone. It sat on the buffet in the dining room. We never made a call, and the phone never rang. My dad told us it was for emergencies, such as calling for a doctor when someone in the family was ill.
I decided to leave my phone at home in the mornings when I headed off to a local coffee shop to write. I was surprised at how easy it became to leave the device behind. After only a few days, I was enjoying the freedom of not having to lung the thing around or check it for messages. You may want to test your forbearance.
We don’t even notice silence anymore. Our phones vibrate, we check. A reel starts, and we’re still watching 30 minutes later. Podcasts, playlists, videos, texts — our minds are rarely off and even less often present.
Here’s the quiet problem with all that noise: it numbs you. It doesn’t just distract your day — it dulls your soul. You stop noticing the gentle nudges from the Holy Spirit. You miss the quiet invitations from God to sit, reflect, and listen.
We’ve trained ourselves to live on input. But God often speaks through absence — through moments that are unfilled, unscripted, and still. Moments we rarely allow anymore.
Remember Elijah? He had just called down fire from heaven and outrun a chariot. But then he crashed into fear and exhaustion. He hid in a cave, expecting God to shout His direction. Instead, God sent a whisper.
Scripture
“After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”
— 1 Kings 19:12 (NIV)
God speaks in whispers, not push notifications. Jeez, I hate those. Am I the only one?
That’s the problem. We’re training our brains to respond to volume, urgency, and novelty. But God doesn’t compete with that. He won’t shout over your Spotify queue. He won’t fight with your notifications for attention. His voice is still. Gentle. Holy. And easily missed.
It’s not that He isn’t speaking. It’s that we’re rarely quiet enough to hear.
Our screens offer convenience, connection, and entertainment. But they also deliver anxiety, comparison, addiction, and isolation. And they crowd out what matters most. The average man spends 3–5 hours a day on his phone. That’s 1,500 hours a year. Now ask yourself: how many hours this year have you sat quietly with God?
Jesus regularly withdrew from the crowds to pray. He escaped to lonely places to be alone with the Father. He knew something we forget — the spiritual life is unsustainable without silence.
During one of my bouts with unemployment, when anxiety and stress were getting the best of me, I started sitting by a small lake close to our home. I would go there one morning a week and spend a few hours reading God’s Word and waiting to hear those whispers.
Today’s Challenge: Audit the Noise
God hasn’t gone quiet. But maybe you’ve gone noisy. Let’s change that this week.
Try this:
- Check your screen time report.
If you’re brave, go ahead — open it. Where is your attention really going? - Compare it to your time with God.
How does your time in prayer, Scripture, or reflection stack up against that number? - Leave space, on purpose.
Don’t fill every free moment. Next time you’re in line, sit with your thoughts. Take a walk leave your earbuds at home. Let boredom teach you something. - Replace noise with nourishment.
If you usually scroll before bed, try reading a Psalm instead. If you typically start the day with news, start it with prayer.
Final Thought
The world shouts. God whispers.
The algorithms scream, “Look here!”
God gently says, “Come away with Me.”
The voice that formed galaxies isn’t trying to out-yell your notifications.
If you don’t turn down the noise, it’s hard to hear God’s voice clearly.
This week: Be bold — disconnect to reconnect. Leave your phone in another room as you move around the house. Decide that it no longer belongs on the table next to the bed. Or, leave it in the car when you make a quick trip into a store.
