STAY QUIET AND CLOSE
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
1 Kings 19:11-13 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
Elijah is God’s prophet. He has just had one of the classic showdowns of Biblical history against 400 prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel. He prayed and God brought fire down from heaven and the people repented of their sins when they saw the fire. It was a big day for Elijah, God, and the nation. (This is all in chapter 18)
But now Elijah is tired, alone, and afraid. The queen is upset and out to get him. He goes into hiding and God comes to visit him. Elijah sees the windstorm, earthquake, and fire—but God was not in those. Then there was the sound of a whisper. This is when Elijah goes out to hear from God.
I present the possibility that we miss hearing God’s voice because we are too busy to stop and listen for the whisper. Sometimes we allow our lives to have so much activity that we can’t pause and listen. We have lost margin in our lives. We have lost the times where we sit and listen for God to speak.
This happens in church worship services. We can get so carried away with the lights and sound that we fail to just pause and listen. I love good worship and I love the visual effects that help our senses connect with the moment. But there must be time where we pause to listen for the whisper.
I have a chair where I love to sit to read, journal, and listen to God. I am working this year on spending more time listening. It is hard because I am also a list maker. I know I have this list of things to get done today and I feel the pressure that I have calls to make, emails to answer, and material to write.
There will always be more than enough to fill our time. Perhaps if we begin with listening to the whisper of God, we will be able to better set our priorities for what is most important.
In order to hear the whisper, we must be quiet and close. You can’t be yelling and screaming if you want to hear the whisper. You must be quiet and make things around you quiet. You also must be close. If your life is not in alignment with God, you will not be close enough to hear the whisper of God.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit teach me to build enough margin in my life so I can hear Your whisper. Show me how to be quiet before You. Show me how to keep my life in alignment with You.
“Scroll down to share what you feel God is saying based on today’s reading.”