The Whisper of God…
1 Kings 19:11-13 So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
There is a back story here. Elijah, a prophet of God (who had already seen and done amazing things while depending entirely on the power of God), ran from a very serious death threat. He ran!
1 Kings 19: He went a day’s journey into the wilderness… and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die… “It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.”
This is a man who WALKED and TALKED with God… This is a man whom at the end of his life was TAKEN in a chariot of fire with horses of fire; taken up by a whirlwind to heaven.
But at this moment, he is scared… he is tired… he is hungry… he is so ready to be done!
He is human!
Let’s face it, if a holy man like Elijah can and does have a pity-party, what makes us think we can set our expectations so high we think we have to become perfect before our Holy God will use us EVER AGAIN? After all his experience with God, Elijah KNEW the truth! He just consulted the wrong person about this event. He made the #1 rookie mistake…
Just like us… (you know you’ve done it) he talked to himself instead of talking to God!
Interestingly enough, I heard this same “self talk” last night. It wasn’t until this morning, when the Holy Spirit led me to Elijah that I had the answer my self talker really wasn’t asking me for.
You think you are alone? You think you are overburdened? You think you are a failure? You think the stress of all this is going to kill you? You want to just lie down and never gets up?
Look how God took care of Elijah (EVEN WHEN HE DIDN”T ASK HIM TO!)
1 Kings 19:5-6 … and behold, there was an angel touching him… he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.
1 Kings 19:7 … the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him… “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.” Sustenance for the forty days and forty night trip to Horeb, the mountain of God.
1 Kings 19:9 … he came to cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him… “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Even though Elijah didn’t go to God… God came to Elijah.
God could have slapped him, he deserved that and more to get his attention… but He didn’t. God could have lectured him about missing the mark and how he should have known better… but He didn’t. God could have let him stew in his own juices forever (or at least until Elijah asked)… but He didn’t.
What did God do? He nourished Elijah… He sustained him in his journey… He brought Him to Himself.
What did Elijah say about all this? I love this man… though he is one of the “holiest” men in our history (not counting the perfection of Jesus), he’s HUMAN! He is not portrayed as someone whom we can never live up to. He is not set on a pedestal of legalistic requirements.
1 Kings 19:10 He (Elijah) said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down You altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they see my life, to take it away.”
Can you hear it… “Why are you letting this happen? If You LOVED me… I must not be doing things to Your standards… You have given me way more than I can handle.”
Though he doesn’t come right out and say it, the underlying question is, “Where have You been Lord?”
And God answered! Not in the wind… Not in the earthquake… Not in the fire…
Could it be that we are looking at the WRONG things in order to see God? We are looking at the scary things, the things that make us believe we are DOOMED… doomed to be tossed and thrown by the winds of circumstances… doomed to be shaken to our core as the kingdom we have built falls to ground… doomed to be scorched until we are nothing but ashes.
After the fire a sound of a gentle blowing… finally, Elijah heard God and he listened… he changed his tone. Yes, he voiced the very same concerns he spoke before God’s display, but you can tell he was a changed man by God’s response to his concerns.
1 Kings 19:15 The Lord said to him, Go… anoint the king over Aram and the king over Israel; and ELISHA, the prophet who will take your place when it’s time.
Not a pity-party this time, a readiness to know and follow God’s will. 1 Kings 19:19 he departed and found Elisha. No longer alone, and back to right-mindedness…
God is so awesome!
Sorry friend, God doesn’t take you out of the game just because you fail. Nor does he take you out because you are overstretched (might be something you’ve done to yourself) and undernourished. He doesn’t answer you with the same NOISE as your world yells at you continually.
We need to seek him! But we desperately need to hear him. Tell your loud and scary world to quiet down so you can hear the whisper of God!
When you hear it, you too will recognize Him and you will be restored… just like Elijah!
P. S. Instead of having a pity-party… “Don’t tell God how big your storm is; tell the storm how big your God is.” (One of my favorite quotes by an unknown author)
P. S. 2 My “self talking” friend last night, was not asking me for answers because God had already whispered His answer through the music He provided for her nourishment and sustenance. The Holy Spirit, with gentle blowing in my direction, used this beautiful illustration for us, the choir.
Our God is AWESOME!!!!
**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible