God in the whisper
Key Bible Passages: 1 Kings 19:11-18
Picture this: you’re scared, feeling alone and running for your life. You desperately call out to God wanting him to stop it all, but instead He gives you rest and sustenance. You travel on through the desert for forty days and forty nights and finally arrive at a mountain. Exhausted you crawl into a cave and sleep. That’s where we find Elijah in this passage.
Now I’m not sure about you but when I’m exhausted my senses seem to get foggy. Have you ever come back round from zoning out to someone waving their hand in front of your face? Just like that. I would imagine Elijah, wouldn’t have been at his most alert after everything he had been through. Despite that all of that Elijah still recognises when God calls to him and tells him to ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by’. Elijah is given a choice; to stay in the safety of the cave and sleep or to obey the command and go out to stand in the presence of the Lord. What would you do?
Elijah waits on the Lord. A great and powerful wind hurtles through shattering rocks in its path, an earthquake trembles the ground, fire blazes. Elijah is still in the cave- I don’t blame him! But then, after all of those tremendous things came a gentle whisper. Elijah knows immediately that God is in that whisper. He’s been anticipating God’s presence to pass by, and so when he hears it he is ready to go and stand out of the cave. Elijah didn’t go out into the wind searching for God just because it was impressive, or stand out in the quake because it was imposing. He didn’t expect God to be in the fire just because it was monumental. Instead of assuming God is in the big things Elijah waits and listens. God came after all of these things in a way that Elijah needed; gently.
God knew where Elijah was and invited him out of the cave into His presence with an act of intimacy. In order for someone to hear a whisper you have to get close to them. You have to lean right in next to them. Often, if someone whispers something in your ear you can even feel their breath on your face. God draws this close to Elijah in order for him to hear the gentle whisper.
The pull of a gentle whisper can be stronger than shake of an earthquake.
From time to time God is in the big things, and that’s amazing- sometimes we need it. But it’s easy to fall into an expectation of God only being present in the obvious and big things. If Elijah had gone out into the wind to look for God, or the earthquake and fire, he wouldn’t have been able to hear God’s gentle whisper. When you think about it, isn’t it amazing that a God who is capable of miracles and powerful signs chooses to be in the whisper, chooses intimacy with his children. It’s the whisper of God that encourages Elijah out of the cave in order to hear what God would like him to do next.
What I find amazing is that Elijah recognises God immediately and responds straight away. He chooses to go out of the cave to stand in the presence of the Lord and listens to what God has to say. Elijah doesn’t go searching for God in the impressive things but his heart knows God’s gentle whisper.
So what can we take away from all of this? Well first of all we can realise that God wants intimacy with us and he draws close enough to us to whisper gently in our ears. Let’s not always go searching for God in the big impressive things, but spend time in prayer and in His word allowing our hearts to be available to hear the gentle whisper. God can be in the small things. Let’s be like Elijah and respond to God actively trusting what He has for us, even in hard times.
Questions
To help with further reflection, thought or application.
1: Are you searching for God in the big things or listening for God in the quiet?
2: How can you make your heart more available to hear the gentle whisper of God?
Prayer
“Father God, Thank you for being both powerful and gentle. Please help me to listen for your gentle whisper and trust what you have for me even in tough times. Amen”
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