A few weeks ago I was talking with some friends about how noisy it seems these days. What I mean is, we live in the information age, fueled by social media and a 24/7/365 news cycle, and it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by all the noise.
I said to my friends that I think often about how God spoke to the Biblical prophet Ezekiel in a “still, small voice.” The voice of God, or in another context, the important things in life, are not found in the noise that swirls around us on a daily basis.
Now before you correct me in the comments, when I got home I looked it up and found that the story I was referring to didn’t involve the prophet Ezekiel, but rather the prophet Elijah. My memory of Biblical stories isn’t always perfect. Heh.
1 King chapters 18 and 19 give us the account of a moment in Elijah’s life where Queen Jezebel promised to kill him because Elijah had been a thorn in the side of the wicked King Ahab for years. This culminated in a showdown between Elijah and the prophets of the false god Baal. God performs a miracle, proves Himself to be the true God, Elijah kills the prophets of Baal, tells King Ahab a severe drought is about to end, and outruns the King and his chariot to the town of Jezreel ahead of the rain storm. Wild stuff. Go read it for yourself, and don’t let anyone tell you the Bible is a boring book.
Despite the miraculous things he just witnessed, Elijah is despondent and hides in the wilderness. We pick up the story in 1 Kings 19: 9-14
9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
11 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. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
The voice of the Lord was not in the wind, nor in the earthquake, but came as a gentle whisper. Other translations call this a “still, small voice.”
We’ve all felt like Elijah felt. We’re doing all the right things, carrying out our mission in life, standing up for what’s right, but facing opposition and criticism. I’ve never had my life threatened by a Queen, but I’ve felt discouraged when I didn’t get the results I was hoping for. In those moments I need to hear the voice of God to let me know I’m on the right track.
In those moments, if I’m looking for wisdom in the wind, or in the earthquake - the noise of everyday life, I’ll miss hearing what I really need to hear. I’ll miss that gentle whisper, giving me the guidance or the encouragement I need to get back on track.
Yesterday, our Senior Pastor delivered a warning about listening to false prophets. One of his main points was that as Christians, we must learn to hear the voice of God. Like Elijah, we need to ignore the noise, and truly hear what God wants us to hear. Sadly, there are people trying to deceive us. People, even people in positions of influence and authority, trying to discourage us and convince us we need to abandon what we know to be true in favor of something else. Now more than ever, we need to hear God’s still, small voice.
It’s fashionable these days to question everything. There is a never ending stream of people on social media, or on TV telling you what you thought was true is really false, and they alone have discovered what’s really going on. To be sure, some things we thought were true turned out to be false, but that doesn’t mean everything we once believed is a lie. The ability to tell the difference between truth and lies is a valuable skill in this brave new world we live in.
I realize not everyone reading this is a Christian like me. Hearing from God may not be high on your list of things to do. As the Apostle Paul told King Agrippa, I pray that you all become like me. But in the meantime what I’m endeavoring to do, and what I encourage you all to do, is tune out the noise, and focus on what’s most important in life. Stay true to what you believe your mission is, and don’t let discouragement keep you down.