When God whispers, it changes everything.

INTRODUCTION

Hey, what’s up everyone! Summer’s almost here—which means vacations, road trips, and maybe some time to relax.

And that got me thinking… have you ever been somewhere that totally blew your mind? Like, everything about it was just awesome?

Now, let me take you back a few years. My family and I lived in a place called 29 Palms, California. Sounds tropical, right? Like palm trees, beaches, and paradise? Nope. Total opposite.

29 Palms is basically desert for miles—sand, heat, and more sand. Think Mad Max or Tatooine from Star Wars. [Show picture of 29 Palms] If you wanted to eat out, your best option was Subway. That’s it. Not exactly vacation vibes.

The closest actual vacation spots? San Diego, Vegas, or LA—all about three hours away. But every day, I'd look off in the distance and see this huge mountain. I didn’t know what it was until a friend said, "Oh, that’s Big Bear Mountain and Lake."

So one weekend, we decided to check it out. As we drove, something crazy happened— the dry desert started to turn into green forests and mountain views. It was beautiful. [Show picture of Big Bear]

When we got there, it felt like a whole new world. We loved it. It was one of those mountaintop experiences—literally and spiritually. We didn’t want to leave.

But eventually, we had to head back—back to 29 Palms. Back to the dry, dusty, lonely desert. And honestly, at first, we hated 29. We cried when we moved there. But by the time we left, and we were there for 2 years, we cried again—because of the way God showed up in our lives while we were there.

He moved in ways we never expected—in the middle of nowhere.

Tonight, we’re wrapping up our series, “How to See God,” and we’re gonna talk about something real: How to listen for God—not just on the mountaintop moments, but in the ordinary places too.

So before we jump in, let’s take a moment. Let’s pray and ask God to meet us—right here, right now.

BIBLE VERSE(S)

Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah” (1 Kings 19:11-13 NLT)?

TENSION

Let’s be real—everyone loves those mountaintop moments. You know, the times when life feels amazing and everything just clicks. When it comes to faith, we have those moments too.

Like…

-That last night at summer camp or here at JRNY Students where worship hit different.

-When a message speaks straight to what you’re going through.

-When you first started following Jesus and felt on fire.

-Or when life was smooth and it felt like God was right there with you.

Those moments are powerful. They make God feel real—undeniably real. But what happens when the moment ends?

-What about when you come back from camp and the high fades? -When friendships get messy? -When faith feels less exciting, and more...normal?

Or maybe you’ve never had one of those big “God moments.” You see other people getting emotional or feeling changed, and you wonder if you’re missing something. You might even question if any of this God stuff is real.

Here’s the truth: We often expect to see God only in the big, emotional stuff. But those moments don’t last forever—and they were never meant to.

So as we wrap up this series on How to See God, here’s the real question:

What if seeing God isn’t just about the mountaintop? What if He’s just as present in the ordinary, everyday moments too?

TRUTH

Well, believe it or not, there may be a reason to believe that ordinary moments are some of the best ways to see God at work.

How do we know this? Because God actually proved it a really long time ago.

We find this moment in the Old Testament book of the Bible called 1 Kings. The book of 1 Kings is a sort of history that recounts what was happening to God’s people during the time when they had. . . you guessed it, kings. Some of these kings were great, but most of them were not. Often, to the not-so-good ones, God would send prophets to share important messages these kings needed to hear. One of these prophets was a guy named Elijah.

This guy had a life full of extraordinary moments.

-He performed miracles.

-He called down fire from heaven.

-He confronted evil kings and queens.

This guy had a pretty unbelievable story full of mountaintop moments.

But one day, things took a turn for Elijah and got really bad.

You see, Elijah got scared and ran away to a mountain and hid in a cave because people wanted to kill him.

He even asked God to take his life because of his fear (1 Kings 19:4 NLT).

And in one of the moments in which Elijah needed God most, God didn’t show up exactly as expected.

In the story we’ll pick up in, Elijah was literally on a mountain and really needed to see God. He was worried about the future, unsure of what he’s supposed to do, and wondering if the same God who showed up in miraculous ways will show up for him now.

Check out what happened:

“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire (1 Kings 19:11-12a NLT).

I’m sure that Elijah, who was used to seeing God work in some pretty incredible ways, was expecting to see God in the windstorm, earthquake, or fire. These seem to match up with the other mountaintop experiences he had experienced.

But did you notice? God wasn’t in any of those moments.

To be clear, that doesn’t mean that your mountaintop experiences with God weren’t legit. In Elijah’s story, it just seemed like God wanted to make a clear point. In fact, check out what happened next:

And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah” (1 Kings 19:12b-13 NLT)?

God, after all the fire, smoke, earthquakes, and stuff, instead showed up to Elijah in the sound of what...a gentle whisper. The loudest thing God said to Elijah was a whisper. What in the world is that about?

Well, there were probably a lot of things God wanted Elijah to learn in that moment, but one of them feels especially relevant for us today:

You can see God in the simple stuff.

Sure, God can show up in big, emotional, faith-defining moments. Camp. Worship nights. Getting baptized. Breakthroughs. Those are real—and powerful. But God doesn’t only show up in the big and dramatic.

He’s also in the everyday, ordinary moments. And if we’re paying attention, we can see Him there too.

Like…

-The joy on your little sibling’s face when you get home from school.

-The love from your grandparent when they pick you up from practice.

-The peace that hits you when you pause and notice something beautiful outside.

-The simple kindness when someone holds the door for you.

Talk about it not just being about flashy youth groups, and moving from youth group to youth group because you want all the hype and worship, and games. Don’t miss God in the ordinary moments where you are, where God is growing you.

Are those big, flashy moments? Not even close. But are they signs of God’s Spirit at work? 1000% yes.

Here’s the main takeaway as we wrap up this series:

When God whispers, it changes everything.

God doesn’t whisper because He’s far away. He whispers because He’s close.

I get it—God is invisible, and this world is loud. It’s easy to feel like God’s hard to find or hard to hear. But the truth is, we don’t need to wait for some mountaintop moment to know He’s near and to trust Him.

And if you don’t have those moments often—or ever—that doesn’t mean God’s mad at you or that you’re doing something wrong.

It just means… it’s time to start looking for Him in the everyday.

You don’t have to be at camp to hear from God. You don’t have to be praying for an hour a day to notice Him. You don’t have to be perfect. Or super spiritual.

You just have to pay attention. Because God is speaking. God is moving. And He’s with you.

So let’s be people who expect to find God in both the highs and lows… In the loud and quiet… In the powerful and the pretty normal moments.

Because He’s already there. And He’s inviting you to trust Him.

INTERACTIVE: The Noise Cancelling Headphones Two weeks ago at Gretna Middle School Campus Life, Levi kicked things off with a fun game. He brought up two students from each grade—one was the communicator, and the other was the listener.

Here’s how it worked: the listener put on noise-canceling headphones with loud music blasting, while the communicator had to say a well-known phrase to them—stuff like “cat got your tongue” or “that’s cap.” The goal? Get the listener to guess the phrase correctly.

But here’s what usually happened: the listener totally missed it. They got the phrase wrong almost every time. Why? Because the music in their ears blocked out everything. They couldn’t hear what the other person was saying—no matter how loud or clear the communicator tried to be.

And that’s the point of noise-canceling headphones, right? They’re designed to block out distractions—the traffic, the chaos, the noisy siblings. They do their job well.

But think about this: what happens when your best friend is trying to talk to you, and you’ve still got those headphones on? You miss it. You miss something important.

Now imagine taking the headphones off. Suddenly, you can hear clearly. Not just the loud stuff—but the little things. The quiet stuff. The stuff you usually overlook.

And that’s how it is with God.

God doesn’t always shout over the noise in our lives. Instead, He speaks in a whisper. A whisper means He’s close—but we’ll only catch it if we’re willing to cancel out the noise.

So here’s the shift: when we start to believe that God can be found in the everyday, ordinary moments—when we change our perspective—we’ll start looking for Him. We’ll tune in. We’ll turn the volume down on the noise of life and become more intentional about connecting with Him.

And when we do that, we’ll begin to notice how God is already at work—around us and in us.

APPLICATION

So, if we’re going to be people who listen to God’s whisper in our lives, what do we do?

Here are a few ways you can start looking for God in the everyday, ordinary moments in life:

1. Look up. This whole series, we’ve been talking about how important it is to pay attention to God—and that starts with looking up. Not literally (although the sky is pretty cool), but spiritually.

That means making space for spiritual habits—what we sometimes call Faith Skills. Things like:

-Reading the Bible (even just a few verses)

-Praying (just talk to God—He's listening)

-Talking about your faith with a friend or mentor

-Living like Jesus in how you treat people (and yourself)

God uses these moments to get your attention and grow your faith.

2. Look around. We can also be sure to look around us for evidence of God at work. We’ve talked about the evidence, or fruit, of God’s Spirit being love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Sometimes we experience these things in really significant ways, but other times they show up in life’s simple moments.

3. Look in. Consider the ways God is already at work in our own lives. We can start looking for Him at work by paying attention to how God has already been working in us. In those moments where you see growth in your own life or you notice the fruit of God’s Spirit in simple ways, you’re seeing God. The joy you experience throughout the day, the patience you exhibit with your younger sibling, the kindness you show your stepmom, the goodness of enjoying your favorite meal, the faithfulness you practice when you show up for a friend in need—these kinds of simple moments are evidence of God at work in us. So, take the time to look in at your own life and see the ways He has been and is currently at work.

Sometimes God’s voice is more of a whisper than a shout.

It’s not always loud or obvious, but if you’re willing to look up, look around, and look in—you’ll start to see Him moving in ways you never expected.

When God whispers, it changes everything.

LANDING

God doesn’t always shout over the noise of our lives—He often whispers. Not because He’s distant, but because He’s close. And when we slow down, lean in, and listen, we begin to hear His voice. It’s that tug in your heart. In a quiet moment during worship. It’s that gentle tug you’re getting right now to trust in Jesus tonight. That’s the whisper.

But here’s the truth: trusting a whisper is hard when you’re used to the world shouting.

The world shouts, “If people knew you, they wouldn’t love you!” Jesus whispers, “You are mine.” The world shouts, “You’ve messed up too much.” Jesus whispers, “I’ve already forgiven you.” The world shouts, “You’ve got to figure it all out.” Jesus whispers, “Just trust Me.”

Remember, it’s not the storm that changed Elijah, it’s God’s whisper that did. What is God whispering to you tonight?

Tonight, the challenge isn’t to be louder—it’s to be still. To turn down the noise. To tune in to the whisper of Jesus who loves you, who speaks life over you, and who is guiding you—if you’ll just listen and trust.

Let’s pray.