…Before your head hits the pillow… God’s Still Small Voice Some time ago I wrote about our big God. We discussed the amazing wonder of God totally consuming the altar that Elijah had repeatedly doused with water with fire. It was an amazing demonstration of the power and majesty of our big GOD! Shortly after this amazing I Kings 18 story, Elijah was in hiding. Wicked Queen Jezebel was angry that Elijah had killed all of the prophets of Baal, her god. She wanted Elijah dead and she wanted him dead NOW. It is likely that no queen mentioned in the Bible was as wicked as Jezebel and no king as horrendous as her husband Ahab. They made quite the miserable couple. Jezebel was likely from Phoenician nobility. Her name in Phoenician translates as “The lord Baal exists” but in Hebrew her name means “without nobility.” After wicked Jezebel ordered the death of Elijah he became unbelievably despondent. He even asked God to take his life. I Kings 19:4. In his deep depression the Lord his God lovingly cared for him. He had an angel bring him bread and water for nourishment, not once but twice. God knew that Elijah needed to be well fed for his upcoming 40 day journey to Mt. Sinai, the mountain of God, where Moses received the Ten Commandments. God asked Elijah to stand before him on the mountain. God passed by Elijah and then came a mighty windstorm so ferocious that it tore the rocks loose from the mountain, but God was not in that mighty wind. After the wind there was an earthquake but God was not in the earthquake. Then there was a fire but God was not in the fire. After the wind, the earthquake, and the fire there came the sound of a gentle whisper, it was in this gentle whisper that God brought Elijah his next instructions. Elijah had just showed the people of Israel God’s amazing majesty and power as He devoured the altar, the bull and everything around it, incinerating them to nothing but dust in a majestic fire from heaven. God showed His amazing power. But God does not always come to us in majestic acts. Sometimes he comes to us in still small voices. Sometimes we see God in the gentle voice of a toddler. At times we hear God in the quietness of our own rooms as we meditate on His greatness in silence and solitude. We need to remind ourselves that quietness does not mean that our God is absent. Zechariah 4:6 tells us that God’s work is “not by might nor power, but by My Spirit.” S. Michael Houdmann from GotQuestions.org says that God spoke in a whirlwind in Job 38:1, He showed His presence in an earthquake in Exodus 19:18, and several passages tell us that His voice sounded like thunder. We can see God in amazing lightning shows during a thunderstorm and see His majesty in every dramatic storm, but God also speaks in and through His servants who he inspired to write His Word. Mr. Houdmann also says that the difference between the thunderous voice of God and the still small voice of God can show us of the “difference between the two dispensations of law and grace. The law is demonstrated in thunder and wind. God’s Grace is gentle and calming just like that still small voice. So what does I Kings 19 speak to us? It speaks of God’s provisions. It shows us a faithful and loving God concerned for His despondent children. It also shows us that God is a mighty God who communicates with His children in many ways. At times He may come in thunderous noise, in disaster, but at times we need to be prepared to hear him in that still small voice. It matters not in what way he speaks, it is our calling to be receptive and to listen. After God spoke to Elijah in that still small voice he obeyed. Even though he feared for His life, He still followed the instruction of His powerful God. We must react in the same fashion. We must listen for God’s voice and we must obediently follow His instructions. Trust and obey, that is the command of our Lord, no matter how it is He decides to communicate with us!
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 03:18:37 +0000
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