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?” — 1 Kings 19:11-13
It’s sometimes easy to think that if God is going to do something, He will do it the same way we would or more accurately, the way we want Him to. The Bible explicitly says that His ways aren’t our ways and His ways are better (Isaiah 55:8-9). Elijah was a great prophet. Elijah was not moved by a great wind, earthquake, or fire. Elijah moved when we heard the gentle whisper because he knew God was in the whisper.
Continuing from yesterday, what if you are trying to hear His voice but you aren’t. The answer might be as simple as you’re not paying attention. I can’t say that I’ve ever heard the audible voice of God but I have heard God’s voice before. I’ll tell you one of the coolest ways God has ever spoken to me and how I almost missed it because I was busy looking for “a powerful wind, earthquake, and fire.”
One day at work I got an e-mail from a friend. There were only a couple sentences. Basically he had a dream and he needed confirmation to tell it to someone. He asked me to tell him what his dream. Immediately after reading the e-mail I started thinking about a movie. I asked God to forgive me because I couldn’t concentrate for a few minutes and asked for His help because I know I couldn’t do it on my own. This happened several times throughout the day and I purposely did not talk to my friend until later that evening to give God every opportunity to use me if it was His will. When I talked to my friend I said that I was sorry and I have no idea unless the dream had something to do with a movie. When I described the scene from a movie that kept playing through my mind, to my surprise he said that was a perfect description of his dream. I could have responded back within a minute had I been paying more attention. It was a very cool but also very humbling experience.
Remember to not require God to act in the way you want. God speaking to you might be an unexplainable sense of peace while you’re praying or a passage in scripture that just jumped out at you while you are reading it. Most importantly don’t give up or lose heart. For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity (Proverbs 24:16).
Originally posted January 4, 2010.