Why Whisper?

Job 4:¹² “A word came to me in secret—a mere whisper of a word, but I heard it clearly.” (MSG)

Beginning today, we will be diving into how God began to engage with Elijah. 1 Kings 19:^11-12 “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. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.“ (NIV, emphasis added).

The significance is this, when we are going through our challenges, we want the dramatic. We want God to thunder so we know that God is interested in us. We sometimes say things like, ‘Lord, if You love me do xyz.’ Then we go outside to look and when nothing happens, we conclude that perhaps God did not hear us. We want the dramatic. We say, ‘Lord, if You have really answered my prayer, let it be raining in location A and not in location B.’ – the dramatic. But the Bible says, “…but the Lord was not in the wind… the Lord was not in the earthquake… the Lord was not in the fire…” In other words, the Lord was not in the ‘dramatic’. Where was the Lord? God was in the gentle whisper, the still small voice.

God was not in the remarkable, God was in the mistakable. We often miss God because God is hiding it in mistakable while we are looking for Him in the remarkable. We want to see God in the ‘remarkable’, send a sign, let there be some wonder, let there be this and that. Yet God is saying, ‘But I am talking to you now. I already gave you direction, and you already know what to do’. However, a lot of people are still insisting that the sun should go dark in daytime then they will know that God has spoken. When we focus on the dramatic, most times if you insist, on the dramatic, you can miss God. But you will not miss God in Jesus Name.

When we are overwhelmed by stress and overcome by anxiety, why does God’s voice seem so quiet? Why doesn’t He speak to us in spectacular and powerful ways if He wants us to know Him, experience Him, trust Him, and be confident that He has spoken? Why won’t God speak in the dramatic? Why would He choose to speak in a quiet way? Why will He whisper when He can shout, particularly when I want Him to shout? Why will He insist on whispering? The answer is, that He whispers because He is close. He is closer and more intimate than you think.

Prayer: Father, my ears will catch Your whispers, I will hear You clearly, in Jesus Name. Amen!