The Low Whisper
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Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone while they were reading, watching tv, playing a game, in another room? Has someone tried to talk to you while you were doing that?
I was talking to a friend about very very serious stuff and he was texting someone else. I just stopped talking. He said, “I’m listening. I’m a really good multitasker.” I said, “Well, I’m not.” I couldn’t focus on what I wanted to say, because I was transfixed on him talking to someone else about something completely different while I was talking.
If we want to have deep meaningful conversations, we need to be present with one another, giving our full attention to them. If we want deep meaningful and satisfying marriages, our focus must be complete and our attentions present.
Similarly, if we want to have intimacy with God, we will need to give him focused attention.
Today, I would like to talk with you about Elijah and hearing the voice of God. I won’t share all of the stories of Elijah, but I do want to look at the times that are mentioned in Scripture when God spoke to Elijah:
And the word of the Lord came to him: “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.
“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”
For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ”
After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.”
The text doesn’t make it clear how Elijah heard this voice or what kind of lifestyle he lived. We don’t know his schedule or what the voice sounded like or if it was thoughts in his head or what. Some versions translated it as, “the word of the LORD came to Elijah” while others say, “The Lord said” and others, “God’s word came to Elijah.” However it is translated, the meaning is that God communicated to the man of God what He wanted him to understand.
We will see, later on, in two encounters with God, more specifics. But one thing is clear… Elijah heard God’s voice and it gave him great courage at times. I mean, to confront the king of Israel and say that it won’t rain until I say so… you better know that you heard from God! To ask a starving woman for some of her last supper… you better know for sure!!!
A major difference between Baal and the false gods can be seen in the confrontation at Mt. Carmel.
And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made.
And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.
And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.
Vs 26 “...there was no voice, and no one answered.”
Vs 29 “…there was no voice. No answered; no one paid attention.”
We serve a God who listens, answers, and pays attention.
We do not see God telling Elijah to do all these things until after he does them. He says that he has done all these things at your word. God had, apparently, spoken to Elijah at some point earlier.
In this passage, Elijah is confronting the pagan clergy, and says,
And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”
“The God who answers by fire, He is God.”
And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.
“At your word.” It has been very apparent that God was with Elijah. At Mt. Carmel the nation begins turning back to God.
And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.”
And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.
God wanted to end the exploitation of women and children in the name of religion and the sexualization of everything.
You might be thinking, “This is all great and all, God speaking to Elijah and changing nations, but that was back then.. we’re talking about Elijah.” But may I remind you that at the end of the book of James, he writes,
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
Elijah was just like us. What was special about him? He listened.
“Yeah, but God doesn’t talk like that anymore.”
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
The King James says to covet the greater gifts. The context is in regards to prophesying.
Now I’m not hear to teach you how to prophesy, but I do want to build the case that for those who will be humble before God and greatly desire to hear His voice, will hear it.
Prophet had a word for South Korean President! He also prophesied over me.
Carl dream.
Delight’s spirit of fear.
Love’s Dow moving in the belly.
Addison seeing the Shepherd.
the greatest times of hearing God’s voice is His affirmations and love, though.
Later on, after the encounter with the pagan prophets, the Lord sends rain after Elijah symbolically births it (vs. 43)
After Ahab tells Jezebel what Elijah had done, she puts the word out that she’s going to have him killed. It is, really, only here that we begin to see how God spoke to Elijah… what the circumstances were like when He hears the voice of God. Previous times, it just says that God spoke to Elijah and he obeyed or as an afterthought, we see that God had already spoken to Elijah previously.
The enemy did not like how God was using Elijah and soon after, Jezebel is going to try to intimidate him. That’s what the enemy likes to do… intimidate those intimate with the Lord who hear from God. He wants to make us fearful. But we need to keep pressing in and be obedient to what we are sensing from God.
Elijah is freaked out, afraid, and runs for his life. Let’s read:
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”
Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.”
And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.
And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”
And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.
Here, we see the most intimate picture of Elijah yet. He is afraid, alone, on the run, and though he is a hero, a warrior for God, yet after only a day’s journey into the wilderness, he is ready to die. He has reached the end of himself. He is human and in need of strengthening. It is here in his nakedness, vulnerability before God, that he begins to see himself more humbly than ever. He says, “I am no better than my fathers.”
What a statement!!! He has been so very zealous for God, brave in the face of the demonic hordes and pagan prophets, but now he is honest with himself. If it were not for the grace of God, I would be just like Ahab and Jezebel and the others. I need God, myself.
Few people are honest before God. This is when prayer gets interesting. When we can tell God how we really feel. When He reveals to us our true nature and we see our huge need for Him.
Hearing the voice of God should not puff us up. It should humble us. If someone comes to you proud and arrogant saying that God told them to tell you something… you might want to take that with a grain of salt. Really be careful.
What happens after this honesty with God, though? What happens next? Sleep. Oh the rest of the righteous. Oh the sleep that comes when we are made right before God. It is at this point in verse 5 that he is awakened by the angel of the Lord, aka Jesus, to eat. This happens twice. And in verse 8 is says that,
And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.
That’s a big, nourishing meal… one that lasts 40 days and 40 nights. It reminds us of the temptation of Jesus. When Jesus was in the desert, He fasted for 40 days and it wasn’t until the end of the 40 days that He was hungry.
And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
We need to listen for God’s voice. It satisfies like no other. We primarily hear His voice through His Word, by reading it, studying it, memorizing it, and then meditating on it, but also, listening in prayer, in quiet, for His voice to us.. to our situations.. to our requests and pains. It is a great consolation and encouragement to hear the Words of the Lord to our own present circumstances.. even if to only hear, “I understand and I’m here with you.” Those words are life and sustenance that can last longer than 40 days.
I want to look at one more passage, from which we get the title of this sermon, The Low Whisper.
Let’s read in 1 Kings 19:9-18
There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”
And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke 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 the sound of a low whisper.
And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”
And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.
And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.
And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death.
Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
I love how this passage begins. It tells us where Elijah was when he hears the Lord speak to him. He was in a cave. We actually know where this cave is to this day. Elijah was alone, in darkness, in quiet, in solitude. There were no distractions, no social media, no entertainment, no video games, no work to be done, no lawn to mow or chores and errands to be done. Just Elijah.. alone… with his thoughts and his God. It is here where we get the clearest picture of Elijah’s environment when he heard the voice of God. It is here that we see the circumstances leading up to it, the setting, the backdrop, and it is quietness.
Previously, he had heard God’s voice awaken him while he was sleeping. Now, at least according to the text, he has not heard anything for 40 days from anyone. And it is in this setting that God will unfold His plans to steer nations and bring change to his prophet, Elijah.
The first thing that God says is, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
How can an omniscient, omnipresent God ask such a question? But it is very similar to what the Creator asked of Adam in the Garden of Eden. It is not that God needs the answer to the question, but that Elijah needs to be asked this question.
The question calls on Elijah to remember, to rehearse in his mind, all of the great things that God had called him to and had wrought through him.
Elijah recounts a summary to God and then God tells him to go outside the cave and stand before the Lord.
What happens is noise. Noise in the form of a wind, an earthquake, and a fire, but God was not in the noise. After the fire, came the sound of a low whisper.
Have you ever had someone talk to you in a whisper? Whispers pull you closer. Whispers are intimate. Whispers are private. Whispers are reserved for two people. If your spouse, significant other, friend, motions to you to whisper, you know that it is meant for your ears only. It is a special message and one that requires that you get close to hear it.
The voice is a repeat. “What are you doing here, Elijah? He repeats his answer. Twice has Elijah been asked, “What are you doing here?” and twice he has had to think about it and rehearse and remember and articulate what the Lord has been doing in his life.
It is in this place at this time that God then begins to unfold his plans for Elijah and even Elijah’s predecessor and even Syria and Israel. There’s no telling what we’d hear, if we were silent for 40 days, were without the winds of entertainment, the earthquakes of constant news, and the fires of our selfish ambition. We would hear the low whisper of Yahweh.
Elijah is seen in the New Testament while Jesus is revealing himself to Peter, James, and John and the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus is talking with him and Moses. They awaken, as Elijah did, to Jesus in His glory. The Father then says,
He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
Immediately afterwards, Jesus speaks to his disciples of his upcoming suffering, death, and resurrection.
Friend, you do not need to become a monk, travel back in time, or become an ascetic with no social interactions to hear from God. To hear the low whisper, you need only move away from the noise, and lean in close enough to listen.
And to know God, you must first acknowledge your own sin before Him and accept His provision to pay for it.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
Luke 5:16 (ESV)
But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
As often as possible Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places for prayer.
Can I ask you the question, “What are you doing here?” What has brought you to this place of joy, apathy, pain, thirst for God, complacency, sin, etc.?
Can I invite you to retrace your last week, season, year with the Holy Spirit and sit with Him for a while?
Can I invite you to plan a personal retreat? Ask a friend, spouse, or family member to help you get away for a day to listen. Find your own cave.
Can I invite you to find a sacred space where you can be alone with God every day? To process your life with Him? To dream with Him and listen to His plans for you? To pour out your soul before Him?
Can I invite you to find a spiritual director who can help you begin noticing with you and Jesus the presence and activity of God in your life? leadershiptransformations.org/selah
Jesus in Jn 10 about his sheep hearing his voice.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
elijah could weather the awkward obedience of support raising from a starving widow because he had cultivated a quiet heart and mind.
Pro tips:
Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone while they were reading, watching tv, playing a game, in another room? Has someone tried to talk to you while you were doing that? I was talking to a friend about very very serious stuff and he was texting someone else. I just stopped talking. He said, “I’m listening. I’m a really good multitasker.” I said, “Well, I’m not.” I couldn’t focus on what I wnated to say, because I was transfixed on him talking to someone else about something completely different while I was talking. If we want to have deep meaningful conversations, we need to be present with one another, giving our full attention to them. If we want deep meaningful and satisfying marriages, our focus must be complete and our attentions present. Similarly, if we want to have intimacy with God, we will need to give him focussed attention. Today, I would like to talk with you about Elijah and hearing the voice of God. I won’t share all of the stories of Elijah, but I do want to look at the times that are mentioned in Scripture when God spoke to Elijah:1 Kings 17:2–3 ESVAnd the word of the Lord came to him: “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 1 Kings 17:9 ESV“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 1 Kings 17:14 ESVFor thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ” 1 Kings 18:1 ESVAfter many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.” The text doesn’t make it clear how Elijah heard this voice or what kind of lifestyle he lived. We don’t know his schedule. We will see, later on, in two encounters with God, more specifics. But one things is clear… Elijah heard God’s voice. A major difference between Baal and the false gods can be seen in the confrontation at Mt. Carmel. 1 Kings 18:26–29 ESVAnd they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made.
And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.
And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.Vs 26 “...there was no voice, and no one answered.”Vs 29 “…there was no voice. No answered; no one paid attention.”We serve a God who listens, answers, and pays attention. We do not see God telling Elijah to do all these things until after he does them. He says that he has done all these things at your word. God had, apparently, spoken to Elijah at some point earlier. 1 Kings 18:24 ESVAnd you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”“The God who answers by fire, He is God.”1 Kings 18:36 ESVAnd at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.It has been very apparent that God was with Elijah. At Mt. Carmel the nation begins turning back to God. 1 Kings 18:39–40 ESVAnd when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.”
And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.God wanted to end the exploitation of women and children in the name of religion nor a sexualization of everything. The enemy did not like that and after the Lord sends rain after Elijah symbolically births it (vs. 43) After Ahab tells Jezebel what Elijah had done, she puts the word out that she’s going to have him killed. It is, really, only here that we begin to see how God spoke to Elijah… what the circumstances were like when He hears the voice of God. Previous times, it just says that God spoke to Elijah and he obeyed or as an afterthought, we see that God had already spoken to Elijah previously. Elijah is freaked out, afraid, and runs for his life. Let’s read:1 Kings 19:1–8 ESVAhab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”
Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.”
And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.
And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”
And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.Here, we see the most intimate picture of Elijah yet. He is afraid, alone, on the run, and though he is a hero, a warrior for God, yet after only a day’s journey into the wilderness, he is ready to die. He has reached the end of himself. He is human and in need of strengthening. It is here in his nakedness, vulnerability before God, that he begins to see himself more humbly than ever. He says, “I am no better than my fathers.” What a statement!!! He has been so very zealous for God, brave in the face of the demonic hordes and pagan prophets, but now he is honest with himself. If it were not for the grace of God, I would be just like Ahab and Jezebel and the others. I need God, myself. Few people are honest before God. This is when prayer gets interesting. When we can tell God how we really feel. When He reveals to us our true nature and we see our huge need for Him. What happens next? Sleep. Oh the rest of the righteous. Oh the sleep that comes when we are made right before God. It is at this point in verse 5 that he is awakened by the angel of the Lord, aka Jesus, to eat. This happens twice. And in verse 8 is says that, 1 Kings 19:8 ESVAnd he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.That’s a big, nourishing meal… one that lasts 40 days and 40 nights. It reminds us of the temptation of Jesus. When Jesus was in the desert, He fasted for 40 days and it wasn’t until the end of the 40 days that He was hungry. Matthew 4:3–4 ESVAnd the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”We need to listen for God’s voice. It satisfies like no other. We primarily hear His voice through His Word, by reading it, studying it, memorizing it, and then meditating on it, but also, listening in prayer, in quiet, for His voice to us.. to our situations.. to our requests and pains. It is a great consolation and encouragement to hear the Words of the Lord to our own present circumstances.. even if to only hear, “I understand and I’m here with you.” Those words are life and sustenance that can last longer than 40 days.I want to look at one more passage, from which we get the title of this sermon, The Low Whisper. Let’s read in 1 Kings 19:9-181 Kings 19:9–18 ESVThere he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”
And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke 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 the sound of a low whisper.
And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”
And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.
And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.
And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death.
Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”I love how this passage begins. It tells us where Elijah was when he hears the Lord speak to him. He was in a cave. We actually know where this cave is to this day. Elijah was alone, in darkness, in quiet, in solitude. There were no distractions, no social media, no entertainment, no video games, no work to be done, no lawn to mow or chores and errands to be done. Just Elijah.. alone… with his thoughts and his God. It is here where we get the clearest picture of Elijah’s environment when he heard the voice of God. It is here that we see the circumstances leading up to it, the setting, the backdrop, and it is quietness. Previously, he had heard God’s voice awaken him while he was sleeping. Now, at least according to the text, he has not heard anything for 40 days from anyone. And it is in this setting that God will unfold His plans to steer nations and bring change to his prophet, Elijah. The first thing that God says is, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”How can an omniscient, omnipresent God ask such a question? But it is very similar to what the Creator asked of Adam in the Garden of Eden. It is not that God needs the answer to the question, but that Elijah needs to be asked this question. The question calls on Elijah to remember, to rehearse in his mind, all of the great things that God had called him to and had wrought through him. Elijah recounts a summary to God and then God tells him to go outside the cave and stand before the Lord. What happens is noise. Noise in the form of a wind, an earthquake, and a fire, but God was not in the noise. After the fire, came the sound of a low whisper. Have you ever had someone talk to you in a whisper? Whispers pull you closer. Whispers are intimate. Whispers are private. Whispers are reserved for two people. If your spouse, significant other, friend, motions to you to whisper, you know that it is meant for your ears only. It is a special message and one that requires that you get close to hear it. The voice is a repeat. “What are you doing here, Elijah? He repeats his answer. Twice has Elijah been asked, “What are you doing here?” and twice he has had to think about it and rehearse and remember and articulate what the Lord has been doing in his life. It is in this place at this time that God then begins to unfold his plans for Elijah and even Elijah’s predecessor and even Syria and Israel. There’s no telling what we’d hear, if we were silent for 40 days, were without the winds of entertainment, the earthquakes of constant news, and the fires of our selfish ambition. We would hear the low whisper of Yahweh. Elijah is seen in the New Testament while Jesus is revealing himself to Peter, James, and John and the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus is talking with him and Moses. They awaken, as Elijah did, to Jesus in His glory. The Father then says, Matthew 17:5 ESVHe was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”Immediately afterwards, Jesus speaks to his disciples of his upcoming suffering, death, and resurrection. Friend, you do not need to become a monk, travel back in time, or become an ascetic with no social interactions to hear from God. To hear the low whisper, you need only move away from the noise, and lean in close enough to listen. And to know God, you must first acknowledge your own sin before Him and accept His provision to pay for it. Revelation 3:20 ESVBehold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.Jeremiah 29:11–14 ESVFor I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.Luke 5:16 (ESV)But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 5As often as possible Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places for prayer.Can I ask you the question, “What are you doing here?” What has brought you to this place of joy, apathy, pain, thirst for God, complacency, sin, etc.? Can I invite you to retrace your last week, season, year with the Holy Spirit and sit with Him for a while? Can I invite you to plan a personal retreat? Ask a friend, spouse, or family member to help you get away for a day to listen. Find your own cave. Can I invite you to find a sacred space where you can be alone with God every day? To process your life with Him? To dream with Him and listen to His plans for you? To pour out your soul before Him? Can I invite you to find a spiritual director who can help you begin noticing with you and Jesus the presence and activity of God in your life? leadershiptransformations.org/selahJesus in Jn 10 about his sheep hearing his voice.John 10:1–8 ESV“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. elijah could weather the awkward obedience of support raising from a starving widow because he had cultivated a quiet heart and mind.Pro tips:God never contradicts his word.HHis morality is independent of societal norms.
his morality is independent of societal norms.