In dark times, I am reminded of Elijah. As a prophet, he was forced to flee to the desert to escape certain death. While he was there, he had to find his way again. He went to Mount Horeb to take the time to listen to God's voice. He was able to hear God's voice there once he stopped listening to everything else but God.
Elijah is an example to us of what to do when we face difficult times. Like Elijah, we are called to listen. In fact, that is the very thing all the prophets of old call us to do. They all call on us to stop and listen.
Elijah, in listening to God, gained the strength to continue on his journey in service to the Lord. My hope is that in being like Elijah and taking the time to listen, you can gain that same strength too.
One of the greatest tools we can use to listen to God is through the words of Scripture. Those words are there to help us, not so that we can win any argument, but so that we might be changed by what we hear.
There are many ways we can listen to Scripture. The easiest way we can do that is through our weekly reading of Scripture as part of our Sunday worship, but we can also listen to Scripture daily on our own or even with others through Bible Study groups and Christian Formation.
When you listen to Scripture, be like Elijah and block all other things out but the voice of God. Even if it is a passage you have heard many times before, open yourself up to hearing it in a new way. Doing so may help you see new ways in which God may be calling you to be. Listening to God in Scripture may be a reminder of how we have fallen off the path God has set before us just as it may be an invitation to get back on that path again.
It is extra important when we find ourselves in dark times to take the time to stop and listen to God. If it's been a while since you've taken that time, consider this your invitation from God to start listening once again. You never know what it is that God might be calling you to do, but we can listen in the assurance that God is there and whatever God is calling us to hear will be ultimately what helps us change for the better.