A Gentle Whisper

One thing I’ve realized is that we serve an unpredictable God.

When we cry out to Him for help, He responds in His own way. We assume that God is going to answer us one way, but He does the complete opposite. Or we assume that He’s going to answer us in the most dramatic way, but instead, He answers us in the calmest way.

Let’s look at Elijah in the Bible, for example.

Elijah is on the run. (I know, crazy, right? A prophet is on the run! But remember, we are all human.) He is running because a queen named Jezebel sent a messenger to tell him that she was going to have him killed because he had killed the prophets of her false god, Baal.

When Elijah heard this, he traveled for 40 days and 40 nights to the mountain of God, Mount Horeb, to speak with God and ask Him for help.

When Elijah reached Mount Horeb, God asked him in 1 Kings 19:9:

“What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Elijah replied in verse 10:

“I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

Then God told Elijah in verse 11:

“Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by…”

When I first read this passage, I assumed that God (because He is the Almighty God) was going to pass by in the most dramatic way. You know with lightning, the heavens opening up, and then God’s voice sounding like thunder as He answered Elijah.

But if you keep reading, it says:

“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.”—1 Kings 19:11–12

God came not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but in a gentle whisper.

A gentle whisper.

Let that sink in for a second.

The Almighty, all-powerful God came in a gentle whisper.

Wow.

You know, we often look for God’s presence to be felt in the most animated way. We think we have to shake, fall, or roll on the ground when we feel the presence of God (trust me, all of that doesn’t impress Him).

But this passage we just read shows us that God is not in all the “extra” things simply because He doesn’t need to be.

When I sit in the presence of God, I feel so much peace around me. And most of the time, it’s in those quiet moments, when I’m sitting in His presence and allowing His peace to surround me, that He speaks.

Are you waiting for an answer for God but haven't received it yet?

I guarantee you that He has answered you, but you've been looking for Him to show up in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. Be still and wait for His gentle whisper.