The Gentle Whisper

 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

THE GENTLE WHISPER

1 Kings 19:1-18

19:1 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them." 3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." 5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." 6 He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. 7 The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 10 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken 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." 11 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. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 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?" 14 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken 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." 15 The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel — all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him." NIV

How do we divide this narrative into smaller sections without losing the point? Here we have a man of God who was so bold and zealous for the LORD that he first challenged four hundred and fifty of the so-called prophets of Baal with their false god, and just himself with his LORD God Almighty. Then he had them all killed, and now he runs for his life because he is afraid of one woman, even though she is pure evil. Elijah became so depressed that he wanted to die. We could learn a lesson here about getting down or feeling negative, despondent, or depressed because of certain situations in our lives. There may even be times when we want to give up, stop fighting, and just give in to our “self”. There is another story we need to focus our attention on. Elijah wanted to give up and just die, but the LORD had a plan for him and sent angels to encourage him and feed him. He traveled for forty days and forty nights to arrive at the mountain of God. Our story is about the gentle whisper, the still small voice of the LORD as he spoke to Elijah. When there are earthquakes, fires, powerful winds, and the storms of life that can distract us from hearing the sweet whisper of our Lord, speaking truth into our lives, giving us direction, encouragement, and courageous endurance so we can face all situations with faith and grace. The psalmist said it well, “Be still, and know I the God.” “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.” “Do not fret.” Being still in our hearts is the key to hearing the voice of the Lord. When we are fretting about, worrying about this or that, getting all tied up in knots over some situation, whether that be our health, wealth, relationship, or lack of any of those things, or whatever storm our lives are in, we cannot hear that gentle whisper. When we are so loud in our complaints, even complaining to God, yelling and screaming within our hearts because we are fed up with what is happening to us, we cannot hear his answer. Being still means to be still, to just sit down, throw our cloak over our heads, in the presence of the Lord, and listen for that gentle whisper, and we will hear his voice, and we will know what our next step will be. When we are so busy doing what we think is the right thing to do, even doing church things, all those “Good deeds”, we may miss the being still part of our life with Christ. Even when we pray, if we fill our prayers with great religious words and just keep talking and talking, telling God everything that is happening, or our needs, or even if we are praising him, if we do not shut up and listen, we will not hear that gentle whisper. Let us still our hearts, our souls, learn from Jesus, being gentle and humble of heart, listening for the gentle whisper, we will not know where he wants us to be and do. We will be stuck with our thoughts instead of his thoughts, our ways instead of his ways. Be still, listen for the gentle whisper.