Did You Hear Him Whisper?

I was reading my daughter the story of Elijah the other night, and we came to the part where Elijah thinks he is the only one left who is still serving God. Then God does something a little strange. Let's pick up the story in I Kings 19:11-13

¹¹And he said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke 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. ¹²And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. ¹³And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold there came a voice to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

Of course, the other night we were reading the children's version of the story, but I thought to myself, "Isn't it odd how often we look for our Father to rend mountains in two and shake the earth to speak to us when the whole time He has been whispering in our ears?"

Sometimes it just turns my stomach how sensationalistic we can be. We want to be wowed by God, but we want to dictate how He wows us. It is truly a sad commentary on how we are living out our faith if we are constantly looking for the next big thing to come along.

Let me expound on this by giving you an example from my own life. I have a good friend who I appreciate more with each passing day. She is a Texas transplant and said the other day that she has never seen a sky as big as the Texas sky. Well, of course, that just flattered my Lone Star heart to no end. She went on to describe how much beauty she finds in our Texas sky. You know, I started paying attention over the last couple of weeks, and she is right. Our sky is absolutely magnificent. No matter the weather, there is some sincere beauty in that sky. I was wowed by the creation of my Father.

It speaks volumes to me that though He has the power to shake the mountains and move the seas He chooses to communicate quietly with Elijah. He longs to do the same with us. For us to hear His whisper requires infinitely more trust than to wait for the "prophet" or "minister" to tell us what God is saying.

So, you see, if we're waiting by the loudspeakers for the booming voice from heaven, we may miss the main show. He is whispering to our hearts with all the love He has for us. He is drawing us to Him, loving us, caring for us. We just seem to miss those moments searching for the bigger ones. There are vast vistas of relationship that we have not even laid eyes on because we cannot see past ourselves. I for one hope to leave behind the noise and spend some time whispering with Papa.