God and Elvis: A Big Fish Story

(Originally published in Pearls of Promise: A devotion designed to reassure you of God's love. If you love this story a book full of similar stories is available at Amazon.com.)

Hearing God’s voice is like seeing Elvis.  I should know; I saw Elvis on a recent trip to Hawaii.  We were staying in a resort on the big island where a barracuda named Elvis lived.  He traveled the salty canal waters making appearances at various locations, but you had to watch carefully to get a glimpse.  Elvis was large but quick.  I thought I caught a flash of silver out of the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t be sure it was him.  I wanted a good look; I waited by the canal and watched.  I’d get a glance of a fin but nothing more.   But I was determined to get a good look.  Then I saw a ripple on top of the shallow stream. It was coming towards me. I waited.  The ripple came closer and closer and ah!  The barracuda!  A ripple on top of the water meant a barracuda underneath.  Now I knew what to look for.  Now I could spot Elvis easily.

When I saw Elvis that day, I had been praying for more awareness of God’s voice.  I realized instantly that seeing Elvis was like hearing God.  They both weren’t easy and required patience and attention.  I, therefore, set out to put more focus on hearing God’s gentle voice.

I wasn’t alone in my quest or my trouble.  People in all centuries have had difficulties understand and hearing God.  Matthew 13:14 talks about this problem referring to people who were listening to Jesus:  “In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.’”  Even when Jesus was physically with them, they often didn’t understand what he was saying.  It is true that many people never hear God’s gentle voice.  It is also true that many people who stayed at our hotel never saw Elvis. 

Why then did I see Elvis?  It started with intent.  I had to want to see Elvis.  Practically speaking, when I began my journey of being more aware of God’s voice, I started with a prayer of intent.  “Dear God, I know that you’re speaking, but often I do not hear.  Open my ears, God.  Make me aware of your gentle voice.” 

My next step, something we all have trouble with, was patience.  I had to stop and patiently watch the canal to catch a view of Elvis.  I also had to stop and listen for God.  When I had trouble seeing Elvis I could have run up and down the stream frantically looking for him.  This is sometimes how we try to hear God especially when we have a problem that needs a solution.  Most people aren’t patiently waiting for their bad situations to improve.  I am no exception.  I wanted a new house, now.  I wanted my children to be fixed, now.  But having patience meant spending time in silence; it meant not scheming to fix things and it meant not working things out my way.  I had to start giving myself quiet time so God could be heard and then real fixes could happen. 

Finally, to see the fish, I had to become in tune with the signs of a fish moving under the water—the ripples on top.  With God the same is true; I had to learn how to hear God’s gentle voice.  Elijah (1 Kings 19:9-13) looked for God in big things: an earthquake, a fire, and a storm, but he did not find him until he listened to a gentle whisper.  That is God’s way.  He speaks to us through coincidence, gentle tugs on our hearts, and whispers.  I looked at a house I never would have looked at.  I felt that tug on my heart.  We bought it.  I was driving by a friend’s house and heard a whisper.  We stopped to see if her son wanted to play.  She answered the door, “Boy, you are an answered prayer.”  When I listened and responded to his tugs and whispers, I was richly rewarded.

That brings me, finally, to what is different about hearing God and seeing Elvis.  When I saw Elvis it took 30 minutes of effort, but I often find that hearing God requires one more step—writing it down.  This is because God often works more subtly and over a period of time.  When I write things down, I often understand the events more clearly in retrospect.  When I write down when I feel God tugging on my heart, I can go back and verify it later.  I will also become more aware of when a thought or feeling is from God and when it is not.    My journal became filled with the amazing things God had done to make clear he was speaking to me.

And so we come to the end of this big fish story.  Of course, it is a big fish story with a lesson.  In Hawaii, Elvis was hard to spot, but I saw him.  God is also often hard to hear in the midst of our busy lives, but it is possible.  Hearing his voice simply requires a good bit of intent, patience, and attention.