God's Voice

Introduction

I’m from Shawnee, a fairly small town in Oklahoma. Your pastor’s wife, Angela is from there too. We graduated the same year from Shawnee High and were all members of Oak Park Church of God. She could probably tell you all sorts of funny stories about the place.

One of Misty’s police officer friends, Freeland, came across some guys loading up a truck and decided to help them out. They were loading some larger items, so he stopped and gave them a hand and went on his way. Several minutes later, a call came over the police radio with a report of a robbery that just took place at the same house. Yea, he helped the two robbers load up their loot.

Another one of the local police officers told a story of a cowboy that was riding his stallion down a dirt road when a police officer flashed his lights and pulled him over. He said, "Sir, I have been trying to pull you over for a mile. Do you know that your wife fell off the horse, a mile down the road?" The cowboy smiled and replied, "Thank God, I thought for a moment that I had become deaf."

Sometimes we focus on something else and completely miss what is really going on. We may be like Freeland and totally miss the fact that the two guys he is helping load up their truck are robbing the house. Or, like the cowboy, we get to thinking about other things and totally miss his wife who fell off the horse.

Husbands…have you ever been in the car or sitting in the recliner and totally missed what your wife just said? I don’t know about you, but sometimes I am focused on something else and completely miss my wife speaking to me. When I realize it, I ask her to repeat it. I know this must be annoying based on…well…Misty’s reaction. At other times, I don’t want to admit I’ve not been listening and shake my head or do my best to interpret what was said, but that never works out that well.

That got me thinking…I often wonder how many times I’ve been distracted by the cares of this life and miss God’s voice?

From where does God speak?

God spoke from the midst of a cloud in Exodus 24:16 and Matthew 17:5

God spoke from a burning bush in Exodus 3:4

He spoke from the mercy seat in Numbers 7:89

He spoke from the midst of the fire in Deuteronomy 4:11

He spoke from the radiance of a rainbow in Ezekiel 1:28

He spoke from the expanse above in Ezekiel 1:25

He spoke from the highest heavens in Psalm 68:33

He spoke while walking in the garden in Genesis 3:8

He spoke upon the waters in Psalm 29:3

The Lord thundered from heaven in 2 Samuel 22:14

His voice was like the sound of many waters in Ezekiel 43:2 and Revelation 1:15

His voice was like the sound of a trumpet in Revelation 1:10 and 4:1

His voice came from heaven in Daniel 4:31 and Matthew 3:17

His voice shook the earth in Hebrews 1:26

Lets take a look at how God spoke to Elijah…

Text

Please turn in your Bible to 1 Kings 19:9-12

9 There he [Elijah] 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.

Let us pray…

Elijah, “The Lord is my God” was a great man of God and zealous prophet. Elijah’s mission was to awaken the Israelites to their sin—idol worship—and call them to repentance and reconciliation to the one true God of Israel. Elijah is a great man of prayer, a man of great courage, and a great zeal for God.

We are first introduced to Elijah in 1 Kings Chapter 17, where he confronts King Ahab, announcing that no rain or dew will fall for years “at his word.”

Ahab had recently become the seventh King of Israel since the kingdom split into Judah (The tribes of Judah and Benjamin) and Israel (the other ten tribes). All kings of Israel were evil, but Ahab was the most evil. According to the historical writer, “Ahab…did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him…. he also married Jezebel…and began to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.” (1 Kings 16:30-33)