What if the most important messages arrive with a whisper?

Certainly true for Elijah. After a major confrontation with a cohort of Baal’s prophets, Elijah fled into the wilderness. There he waited for a word from God.

First a tornado tore through the neighborhood. Then an earthquake rattled Elijah’s teeth. Next a massive fire. How long did this prelude take?

Finally, a whisper. Some commentators say the word actually means a profound silence.

God speaks in whatever way God chooses. Just a few days before, Elijah watched the Lord shoot a pillar of fire from heaven and gloriously confirm his presence. But this day, Elijah required a whisper.

If the Lord indeed whispers, I wonder if my mind ever settles down enough to hear? Where exist the silent places in my day? I fill time with the clatter of channel surfing and sports watching and politics hawking, along with silent finger swipes toward random photos and rabbit-hole reading.

How many minutes spent in reflection? How much time with a quiet mind?

Not enough.

If God whispers, then stretches of quiet and stillness and patience are required to even begin to think about hearing.

I think I’ll leave my phone upstairs for the rest of the day.

I Kings 19 in week twenty-nine of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Andraz Lazic