LISTENING FOR THE WHISPER OF GOD
I Kings 19:11,12 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.
Elijah had been running for his life. After he had 400 of Queen Jezebel’s prophets of Baal killed, she swore that she would kill him. She certainly had the authority and the willpower, because she had already killed many prophets of the Lord. Now Elijah was on Mount Horeb and was hiding in a cave in hopes that Jezebel wouldn’t find him there, and that’s where the Lord confronted him.
It is strange how the Lord confronts him. Infact the encounter once again affirms the Trinity of the Godhead, because it says that the word of the Lord came to Elijah and began to speak to him. He tells Elijah to go out of the cave and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. So we have the Lord telling Elijah to go look for the Lord, thus we see two aspects of the Godhead at the same time. I assume that this must have been Jesus and the Holy Spirit, since Jesus said, “No one has seen the Father except the one that came from heaven.” (Jn 1:18 & Jn 6:46)
As Elijah is waiting for the Lord to come a very scary thing begins to happen. First the winds are so powerful that it tears the mountains apart and rocks begin to shatter. Then comes an earthquake and fire. With Elijah standing at the mouth of the cave on the side of a mountain this had to be terrifying. I think God was making a statement to Elijah and it was, “If you think that Jezebel is so intimidating and you are wanting to die, well think again about who you are accountable to?” But because of God’s love and appreciation for Elijah, God chose not to appear before him in judgment. He spoke in a whisper as a loving mother might do to her frightened child. God spoke to Elijah as he once did Adam, “What are you doing here?” God knew what he was doing there just as he knew where Adam and Eve were. He wanted them to think about what they were doing. Elijah was running from Jezebel after he had just called down fire from heaven. If Elijah wanted he could have as easily called down fire on her. She should have been the one running for her life! God was reminding Elijah whom he served. Elijah’s boss was Lord of lords and King of kings. Elijah’s God was Almighty God, and not one made out of stone or wood. Elijah had forgotten who he was (a mighty prophet of the Lord) and whose he was. Elijah belonged to Almighty God! Who were King Ahab and Queen Jezebel compared to the Lord.
Now you might be thinking like Elijah probably was, “Well, I hear you saying this, but Jezebel killed many of the Lord’s prophets, so why not Elijah?” Well, maybe they didn’t call on the Lord for help and protection either! Remember God respects our free will and James 4:2 tells us that, “We have not because we ask not.” David called on the Lord to protect him many times, and many times the Lord protected him. Infact as much as King Saul tried to kill David, he could not!
So why did God finally talk to Elijah from a whisper? Maybe because sometimes we listen most carefully when we want to actually want to hear something we feel is important. Sometimes shouting only brings distraction and intimidation. God wanted to have an intimate time of fellowship with Elisha. God wanted to reaffirm to Elijah that he would take care of him and I believe that soon he would be going to be with the Lord.
I have heard many people say that the Lord would thump them on the back of their head to get their attention. God will certainly try to turn us from sin by correcting us with possibly frustrations and the like, but God would much sooner whisper to us. Even as a parent I would much sooner correct my children with my arm around them explaining what they did wrong and help them to know what was right, and ending with a hug and kiss rather than yelling and spanking them. If we only seek to listen to the whisper of the Lord there will be no need to have him yell or discipline us.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, please put in us the passion to listen for your slightest whisper. Please lead us into everlasting life in a ways that we will only be a blessing and never a curse to you, Jesus or the Heavenly Father.
