What's that Noise?

Have you ever felt like God is just a distant being who cares nothing about his creation? Do you ever feel like you pray and ask God for answers that never come, thus drawing the conclusion that he must not exist? Have you ever wondered why some people seem to have a personal relationship with God, while others struggle to hear him?
We do a wonderful job of filling the quiet times in our lives with noise. I find that if I am at home and I don't have the voices of my children filling the house, I much prefer having the radio or television on in the background to the quiet alternative. I have often wondered that if we were to spend less time filling our lives with noise, and spend more time in the quiet, would we hear God?
1 Kings 19 is a great example of how we can hear God.
The prophet Elijah was running from from Queen Jezebel for fear of his life, and was hiding in a cave, when he was told to stand on the mountain because the Lord was going to pass by. Three things happened; a great wind tore the mountain and shattered rocks, then an earthquake came and after that, a fire. After the fire came a gentle whisper; God's whisper. It wasn't in the noise that Elijah heard God, but in the silence.
Are we giving ourselves the opportunity to hear God? Are we filling our lives with worry, busyness, constant stimulation or the drone of the television so that we can no longer hear him? Are we doing these things because we feel that we can be in control in an otherwise uncontrollable world? I wonder what would happen if we were to say no to the noise in our lives, and sit in the still quiet.

1 Samuel 12:16
Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes!