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A Whisper
I live in a loud world. For the most part, everyone I know lives in a loud world. At times, I have found myself juggling the audible input rather than focussing and wholly listening. I believe that God wants to speak to us, but I don’t believe He wants to just be part of the noise. I think in order to hear Him, we have to be willing to wholly listen.
1 Kings 19:11-12 says: “The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”
It was in the whisper that Elijah heard God.
How loud do you think that whisper was after the deafening sound of that wind and a “rock shattering” earthquake of that size? That takes some intentional listening.
Stop the noise – Wholly listen – Hear God
This makes me think of the verse “be still and know that I am God” or my interpretation “be quiet and hear me.” Thanks Todd for the reminder at the beginning of this new week.
I can totally relate to the “noisy world” experience.
When I close my eyes to imagine what it might have been like to be Elijah on that mountain I had a vision (too much jalapeño?) of this humongous snow-plow-like effect that the arrival of God has on the noisy world. As Elijah availed himself of the opportunity to meet God, God’s presence shoved all of the noise out of his path, clearing the way for a whisper. The contrast between the screaming earthquake, wind and fire made the whisper enormously more powerful. For me, this underscores the amazing artistry and gentle loving nature of our God. Having grown up in a house full of screaming, I welcome, and love, God’s way of communicating. Thanks Todd.
Thanks Todd. Your words hit a cord with me today. I have not been still in several days. I’ve had too much activity to stop, read my bible, and listen. Today I’m back to my normal routine but you know, after several days of not reading my bible, it has been difficult to gather my thoughts around God today. While trying to read, my thoughts kept racing around my activities. How quickly our flesh will program us to think about everything but God! How important it is for us to guard that time with Him everyday.