1 Kings 19:11-12 “And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in piece the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.”
Today we look at something very important. We’ve covered it before, I believe, but we will cover it again because of how important of a subject it is. Today, we look at hearing from our Lord. This is such an important thing that we the children of God need to remember, and focus on. Many, many children of God, do not hear from God. I believe that this is a reason many become stagnant or Spiritually asleep! I believe also that this is the reason so many become tired and weary, or lack the zeal to study the Word of God, or produce good fruit. There are some who have the thinking that God only speaks on important occasions or under certain circumstances. However, Our Lord daily speaks with us, we just often don’t listen!
Today, we look at an account of Elijah. Elijah is one of the prophets I have come to see as most like you and I, in that he suffered hardships, and wept and felt overwhelmed at times with seemingly small things, or every day things, just like we often find ourselves. He also had a zeal that the people return to the Lord our God, and when they wouldn’t listen, that made him weep. He even showed sarcasm when the prophets of Baal could not get Baal to light a fire for a sacrifice. Here, in today’s verses, we see that Elijah ran, because of those against him . . . let us look at the verses before, and after, with today’s verses: Verses 9-14 “And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
Elijah was very troubled, and people were trying to kill him just as they did to the other prophets of the Lord. Just before today’s verses, we see that Elijah despaired even of his life, and was praying that the Lord would just let him die because he felt he wasn’t worthy, but was worthless, and that there was no point in living, especially with all those against him. The Lord then sent an angel to him while he slept, and woke Elijah up to tell Elijah to Arise and Eat, because his journey was too great for him. Truly our Lord cares for us, and has such compassion for us when we seem overwhelmed with the troubles that surround us.
Getting into today’s verses though, we see something we should not forget. It would perhaps be nice at times that the Lord would speak to us in a wind strong enough to break rocks, an earthquake, or a fire, or even a nice booming voice. However, just as shown here as He spoke to Elijah, He often speaks to us in a still small voice. This means we had better be paying attention to Him, and have our ears open or else we will indeed miss His Precious Voice! There is a story I have received many times, about a man who was driving along through a parking lot, about to leave. Suddenly a brick smashed into the side of his car, which he loved. He immediately stopped, got out, saw the damage and was very angry. He looked to see what happened, and found the little boy who threw the brick, running to him. When the man angrily asked why he did that, the boy told him that his brother in a wheelchair fell out and needed help. The boy also said that he tried calling out to the man, but the man wasn’t listening, so he had to throw the brick to get his attention! The lesson in that story was to listen for the small voice, or wait for the brick, and when that brick comes, it will really do damage! So we’d better pay attention and listen for the still, small voice!
Today, we are reminded of how we need to be. Elijah had so much going on in his life, so many troubles and so much to do. Yet he had to listen to a still small voice, even though there was a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire that came before it. In the same manner, no matter how busy our lives are, we must stop, take some time out of our day, be quiet, and listen.
I know that we can be very busy, and it can be very difficult to stop and remain quiet. Yet we must if we want to hear from our Lord. Personally, I really need to hear from our Lord, each and every single day. However, my days are busy, I had to watch kids all day, have Fourteen pets to take care of, help out a business, be a manager of a Retail store, help take care of a house, and counsel many people . . . so my days are fairly busy (Though now, most weeks I work only 2-4 days a week at the retail store, so the busy-ness of my days have lessened a bit). However, I cannot allow such things to rob me of hearing from our Lord (especially when I NEED to hear from Him, to let me know what to say in these studies/devotionals). When I can’t hear from Him, the feeling is horrible. There were many weeks I only got a couple hours of sleep each night, because I decided that in all honesty, reading our Lord’s Word and hearing from Him, was even more important than sleep itself. Now, I don’t recommend getting to where you get no sleep, because it will begin to wear you out. However, it’s that important. We have to make sure our schedules each day, revolve around the Lord, not the other way around. One of the best techniques the devil uses to rob us of things, and to get us to stumble, is to cause us to not hear from the Lord on a daily basis. One of the best ways he does that, is to make us so busy that we forget, or feel we haven’t the time, to study the Word of the Lord, or to talk with the Lord, and most important, LISTEN to the Lord.
I’ve had sisters of ours tell me that women tend to feel more easily overwhelmed than men. Growing up with Five women nearly all my life, I can definitely see that to be true—at least with my own family. So even moreso for Sisters in Christ, Satan LOVES to get us distracted, busy, overwhelmed with the things of our very busy days! Yet we have to make sure we set some time, to be as quiet as can be, and just listen. Our days will then be so much easier to get through. Our Lord may not cause the things needing to be done, to be fewer, but He will give us His Strength to get through. When Elijah heard the voice of our Lord in today’s verses, The Lord told him to return to the way the Lord had him on, and do the work needing to be done. Yet the Lord sustained Him. What is more, is that we find out that the Lord also had Elisha then begin to follow Elijah, and help him. As we need, if we remember to seek the Lord, He will help us out! He may very well even send brothers or sisters to be of a great help and encouragement to us, in order to help us get the work done that we need to get done! Our Lord knows what we need, and what will make things easier for us. He will give it all to us, we simply need to remember to keep our Priorities straight. We need to remember not to get so involved in the work, when the Lord is the very reason for the work, and even for living! This is the day that the LORD has made, it hasn’t been promised to us, or deserved by us, but instead it is a gift from God! Make sure that we do not neglect the Giver of such a gift!
I love you so much, and do each and every day pray for you. I pray that we, each and every day, pay attention and listen for that still small voice of our Lord. I pray that we each day read His Word, and seek His Face! May our Lord Bless you mightily, and may you have a wonderful day today!
Love in Christ, Always,
Your friend forever,
And brother,
Chris/Michael
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Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”
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