The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about the 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.

1 Kings 19:11-12  God’s words to Elijah

Last Wednesday evening during a time of worship, our community spent some time looking at the above passage.  Elijah fell into troubled times. His life was threatened and God told him to go up to Mount Horeb. There God spoke to Elijah not through wind, earthquake or fire, but through a whisper.

If I can be honest, sometimes silence is scary to me. I like ambient noise. Silence sometimes means I am still and might come face to face with something I have been avoiding. A feeling, a hurt, an unmet desire, a prayer. Do you ever feel this way? Afraid of the silence?

I read this passage in Peter Scazzero’s inspiring devotional book called Daily Office. When I read this passage it struck me, what if God is trying to speak to me in the silence? Am I bending my ear to listen? I do not want to miss the sweet calling of my Savior.

May we look for God’s voice in the big, the medium, and the still small whispers.

Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.

Psalm 46:10