Listen Out For The Still Small Voice
So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he travelled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
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.
When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
I Kings 19:8-13.
He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
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.
When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
I Kings 19:8-13.
Elijah had obviously heard the voice of God many times. Under divine instructions, he went and stood to observe the LORD passing by. Did he have any expectations of how the divine presence was going to be manifested? Probably not, but it is possible that he might have expected God to show up in the great and mighty wind which tore the mountains apart but God was not in it. Neither was God in the earthquake or the fire! But, alas, the voice of God came in a gentle whisper or a "still small voice." That was how God spoke to Elijah.
The appearance of God was preceded by the dramatic wind, earthquake and fire, but His actual voice came in the form of a gentle whisper.
Many times, we tend to miss the voice of God because we expect it to come in a rather dramatic fashion. We expect it to be an earthshaking or fiery experience that will immediately arrest our attention, but it might not necessarily be so.
Sometimes God might use some very unlikely and unexpected ways to speak to us. His voice can be heard in a myriad of unexpected ways. Sometimes we might hear God's voice as a simple thought that quietly takes over our mind but persistently remains. The thought might be so simple and so ordinary that we might reject it. But following that simple thought could bring great blessings.
Sometimes the voice of God can come to us through another person by way of a suggestion. It is quite possible to reject those suggestions because we might not have much regard for the one through whom the suggestion comes, or we might be so familiar with the person that we don't really pay serious attention to what they say to us. I have seen situations where spouses have missed great opportunities because they did not heed to the advice of their husbands or wives!
Hearing the directive voice of God is crucial to our lives as Christians. The voice of God might not always come in a dramatic fashion. Sometimes it comes in a gentle whisper which is rather easy to miss. Listen out for the still small whisper. It could well be God speaking to you.
Prayer: Father, your word declares that your ways are not my ways and your thoughts are not my thoughts. Your ways are far above mine. In my human conjecturing, I might expect you to speak dramatically at all times when that might not necessarily be always your choice. So, please help me to be so in tune with you that I will discern your voice even if it comes in a "gentle whisper." Amen