1Kings 19:9–13(NLT)
9 There he came to a cave, where he spent the night. But the LORD said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the LORD God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.” 11 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the LORD told him. And as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.”
This record in 1Kings 19 moves me every time I read it. I’m reminded of those occasions where we become so overwhelmed by the emotions of life’s pressures and stresses, that we forget the goodness, strength, and power of our God. So often we allow our emotions to get away from us, and whenever we do this, we run the risk of letting the devil rob us of God’s peace. We forget that Heavenly Father’s resources are infinite, and His wisdom is perfection. He never, ever misses a beat. Elijah was at his wit’s end because many of the people of Israel were behaving in a way that dishonored God. He was upset about this because Elijah understood the connection between actions and consequences. He knew their actions had been horrible and warranted horrible consequences. He was frustrated and upset that they wouldn’t listen and do the right thing according to God’s Word. He was right to be concerned about their sinful behavior and how this dishonored God, but Elijah was wrong to think that anything any of us can do will alter God’s purposes and plans.
Elijah assumed there would be a thunderous objection from God. He expected that the actions of the people deserved an angry, roaring response, but that’s not how our Heavenly Father handled the situation. We think we can predict what God will do and how He will move, but this is a lesson to us that we can’t put God in our predictable little boxes. God’s voice is often found in a gentle whisper, and the only way we can hear a gentle whisper is to be still and quiet ourselves. A whisper requires us to be attentive, to lean-in with stillness and intention. This is lost on many people. We allow our lives to become inundated with things, schedules, people, and activities. The noise of life overwhelms many of us, and often this is why we can’t hear from heaven. We need to fix this.
This past week, my daughter asked me to help her with a school project. It was very detailed. Her teacher sent home a two-page list of instructions and they had to be followed precisely in order to get a passing grade. My daughter only had one week to complete the project. I knew I would have to be strategic with my time in order to help her as much as possible. It was a little frustrating because I’m used to being more structured with my time and deviating from my normal routine was a little irritating.
I noticed my feelings getting in the way as often so many of us do with the busyness of our lives, but I soon recognized that there were several things I could alleviate in order to help my daughter more with her school project. I could decrease the amount of time spent on social media, as well as time spent watching television news and shows, and I could limit my phone conversations. Those small changes would make a significant difference.
I began thinking about the amount of time I take away from God and give to other things. Things that wouldn’t come close in value to the kind of results that would be gained by spending more intimate time with God. Many Christians, like anyone else, have jobs, families and extracurricular activities they find time for. But when it comes time to sit down and get quiet with God, some of us struggle to fit that in. We need to reshuffle our priorities so that spending time with God is number one on the list.
The prophet Elijah didn’t find God in the scariness of the wind, the uncertainty of the earthquake, nor the fierceness of the fire; he found the voice of God in a gentle whisper. We need to be mindful of this continually. God is God all by Himself. He doesn’t need to be thunderous, boisterous, and loud. If He were this way, most of us couldn’t take it. He’s an extremely gentle and loving, Father. He deserves our attention and making the time to give Him what He deserves will ensure that we hear His voice, even when it’s a gentle whisper.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“The Sound of A Gentle Whisper”, written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2020. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.