Learning to Listen
1Kings 19:1-18
Cascades Fellowship CRC, JX MI
July 4, 2010
Series: Through the Bible in a Year
One of the things that seems to disturb us most about believing – about being disciples and trusting in God’s promise of redemption is the apparent silence from heaven. I often hear frustration voiced by believers who just want God to say what’s on his mind. When I was in the service if the captain wanted to address the crew, he just got on the p/a system and spoke to us. I have often wondered why God doesn’t have a p/a system.
But when I look back over my life – and I have heard this from other believers as well – I can see plenty of moments where God spoke very clearly. Like the time I was driving the road from Dad’s house into town – I’d done it millions of times. I knew every pothole and bump. I knew exactly how fast I could take each turn without skidding out of control. I even knew how each house, tree and meadow alongside the road should look. I am fairly certain that I have actually driven that road in my sleep.
Then one evening – a very beautiful evening; temperate, the sun painting exquisite pastels across the azure sky – I saw something that took my breath away. Three crosses – a gold one flanked by two blue ones. I had just been this way a day before and there was no sign of them then. Now, on this hill just off the road they stood – a silent witness of to the wage of sin and the grace of God.
I was dumbstruck – my mind began racing. I actually began thinking about whether this was a sign that Jesus Christ would soon return. The sudden appearance of these crosses seemed like a miracle – an omen, really – that both thrilled me and unnerved me. The vision of those crosses burned into my memory banks and became the fodder for much reflection over the next few days. God had spoken a simple and one word message to me through those three roadside crosses – a message that continues to be essential to my faith and preaching even today – remember.
There are other instances when I look back where I can point to divine discourse – times when God spoke to me – but I missed the message, like we had a bad cell connection or something. And invariably, our connection problems were a result of me not listening.
If God were to speak to you, how would you expect him to speak? What exactly would you listen for or maybe look for? And that’s really the rub isn’t it? Maybe the problem isn’t divine silence. Maybe the problem is that we don’t know how to recognize when God speaks. Maybe the real trick is learning how to listen.
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Elijah. Elijah is a study in the ups and downs of the life of faith. A chaplain I knew described Elijah as a wild-eyed mountain man coming out of an obscure village called Tishbe in Gilead. He answered the call of God to go before King Ahab and jab the finger of judgment in the royal chest and cry “Repent!” The kind of guy, this chaplain said, who would charge hell swinging from a wet noodle and using a squirt gun.
I am not all that certain this is an accurate description of Elijah, but it is true that he was called out of the mountain region to the west of the Jordan and was to confront the apostasy taking root among Israel. He prophesied before Ahab that God would shut up the waters of heaven for three years – no rain. There seems to be no lack of boldness in Elijah – at least, not at first. Elijah had obviously heard from God and had no doubt about his message or his mission.
The story we read this morning from 1 Kings 19, however, is the story of a guy who has heard the voice of God in as many ways imaginable but still managed to have it drowned out in a moment of fear. It’s a story that gives me hope because amazingly, God does not forsake the suddenly hard-of-hearing prophet. Instead, he continues to speak to him, lisping softly as a parent to an infant, to comfort and encourage.
Just to catch us up to date – after telling Ahab that the Land would have no rain for three years, Elijah melts into the landscape and disappears for three years – to Ahab’s everlasting chagrin. The king looks high and low for Elijah, but God keeps him hidden from the king’s sight. After three years, Elijah reappears issuing a challenge – your gods against mine; let’s offer a sacrifice to each – you to yours and me to mine – whichever God answers with fire is the true God.
While I would love to get into the details of the contest, time dictates that I fast forward to the results. The prophets of Baal – not even a spark. The Scriptures say that no one paid attention to the cries of those prophets. Elijah, however, called on the Lord and fire fell from heaven that was so intense it consumed everything; sacrifice, altar - everything. The challenge won, Elijah called for the prophets of Baal to be executed and then told Ahab to head home before the rain that was coming prevented him.
Now, if the story ended there, we would all think “Wow! Elijah is the man! He whipped up on the prophets and called the people back to God. Now there is a guy that heard the voice of God and obeyed.” And if you read through 1Kings 17-18 you will find that Elijah does just that – the word of the Lord comes to him, and he responds. That is the constant refrain through these two chapters. Elijah heard God speak; surely his faith must be unshakable!
But the story doesn’t end there. Listen again to vv. 1-5 of our text.
Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.
Now, let’s count the ways that God had spoken to Elijah prior to his flight of fear. The word of the Lord came directly to Elijah – perhaps in a vision or a dream, maybe even as an audible voice from the heavens – like the one at Jesus’ baptism. Either way, God spoke directly to the prophet.
God also spoke to the prophet through his provision. While Elijah was hiding in the wilderness, God directed ravens to bring Elijah food. Then when God had Elijah move into the home of a destitute widow, the flour and oil jars always had enough to make bread, even though the women had no money to buy flour or oil. Elijah experienced God’s provision in extraordinary ways; a clear message that God cares for his own, particularly when called to a specific mission.
God also spoke to the prophet through great natural and supernatural phenomena. At the word of Elijah, God shut up the heavens, adding weight to the prophet’s words. In answer to Elijah’s prayer, God sent fire from heaven in a display of divine power and he opened the heavens once more. Elijah knew for certain that God was with him, for God fulfilled all he said according to his word.
And yet….
And yet, when Jezebel breathes threats against him, the glow of victory quickly fades and Elijah is terrified. He runs – hard and far; his confidence shattered and his fear fueling his flight. You’d think that after seeing fire from heaven and the hearts of the people turned back toward God, he’d be nigh on to invincible; a force to be reckoned with. You’d think he’d echo the words of David to Jezebel, “You come against me with violence, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me.”
But he doesn’t – instead he flees like a scared rabbit, each step drawing him closer to the precipice of depression. Fear has not only taken his courage, it has robbed him of his assurance and his joy. By the time Elijah collapses under a scrub tree in the wilderness, he is convinced that his life isn’t worth living and God has forsaken him. In utter despair, he cries out “God! Take my life! My work has been in vain. We’ve lost, God! Just kill me and get it over with.”
Here is a man that missed the message. Oh, he heard what God was saying – he just wasn’t listening. He was expecting everyone else to do that. He expected a national revival, for even the pagan Queen Jezebel to fall into line. He expected the power of God to sweep aside all resistance and the Kingdom of God to stand triumphant. Instead, he got a threat on his life.
Now, let’s see how God speaks to Elijah after the prophet has flown the coop. How does God begin? By providing for him – he sends an angel to bring the prophet water and to bake bread for him. There is no berating Elijah for being so weak in faith, just God’s gracious provision – assurance that Elijah is not alone even though he walks through a darkened valley of life. Then God led the prophet forty days and nights through the wilderness to Mt. Horeb, the place where God had established his covenant with Israel. Where else would a prophet go in need o encouragement than to the place where it all began?
Then, the word of the Lord comes again to Elijah, “What are you doing here?” Now, we should note something. The phrase “the word of the Lord” appears 230 times in the Bible. Of all those times, this is the only one that comes to a prophet to ask him a direct question. The implication is “Elijah, this is not where you are supposed to be. Your fear has brought you here, what is it you are looking for?” It is a tender correction for a fragile heart.
What happens next gives us a peek into why it seems God is so silent sometimes. Look with me at vv. 10-14. To God’s question, Elijah replied
“I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken 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 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. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 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?”
He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken 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.”
Do you see the problem Elijah is having? It’s subtle, which is why it is so important that we get it, because the very same thing can stop up our ears to the voice of God.
First off, let’s realize that Elijah doesn’t get it. How do we know this? Because when God asks him the same question again, “What are you doing here?” He gives the exact same answer. “Israel has forsaken your covenant. They’ve killed all the prophets. I’m the only one left. I’ve done everything you’ve said and instead of turning back to you, they want to kill me too!” In other words, “Hey God, I did my part – when are you going to live up to your end of the bargain?”
You see, the problem is that God does not respond the way Elijah thinks he should. He doesn’t speak the way Elijah thinks he should speak. He’s at the place where God made his covenant – the place where God spoke to Moses out of the storm cloud and awed his people with displays of lightning and thunder. Smoke and tremors punctuated every word the Lord spoke. But when Elijah feels a stone-splitting wind ripping across the hillside, but God is not in the gale. An earthquake rocks the foundations of the hills, but God is not in the shockwave. Fire sears the brush clinging to the rocks, but God was not in inferno. All the ways God spoke to Moses in this place before are void of God’s voice.
Then comes the gentle blowing – the still quiet voice, the voice of God tenderly calling to his prophet. “Elijah, why are you here?”
Of all the things God could have said – all the ways he could have addressed his wayward prophet I find this one the most gracious. In that simple question is the assurance that God’s hand still moves the prophet – that his doubt, fear and disobedience has not disqualified him from high office. God isn’t finished with Elijah – he just needs him to listen.
Sometimes, I think the reason we have so much trouble hearing God is because of two things. The first is we have trouble believing that God could ever want to speak to us. There is no doubt that Elijah was experiencing a deep and troubling depression – something more common among God’s servants than we care to admit. Even men like Charles Spurgeon and Martin Luther struggled with feelings of uselessness and doubt. These “seasons of melancholy,” as Spurgeon referred to them, visit us all.
Yet, in spite our weakness – or perhaps, even because of our weakness – God does speak to us. And this he does clearly, if we have ears to hear. So what prevents us?
The second thing that stops up our ears is that God doesn’t always speak the way we expect him to. We often come to the table with preconceived notions of how and what God should say. Sometimes we even put words in God’s mouth – so desperate are we to hear from him.
So how do we listen for God – how do we recognize his voice?
Let me begin by saying that God can speak to us in as many ways as we can imagine. He is not limited in his ability to communicate, even to limited creatures like us. But there are some common means that God uses to speak to his people and there is a litmus test of sorts to let us know if what we are hearing is coming from God.
Let me cover the common means first. The primary way God speaks to us today is through his Word recorded for us in the Bible. God used ordinary men in an extraordinary way to reveal himself through the words of Scripture. The Bible is God’s self-revelation – self-revealing – to us, his creatures. If we want to know God – who he is, his thoughts, the framework of his redeeming purpose – we must read the Bible, know its stories and burn its commands upon our hearts.
The second way God speaks – and the one we most often neglect – is through the counsel and words of those God places around us. I am a Christian Reformed minister because of the wisdom of a man named Joel Kok. God used his counsel to unfold the Spirit’s direction for me.
The third way God speaks most commonly is through our circumstances – God uses moments in our lives to bring clarity to who he is and how he is working in our lives. We talk about these moments as windows or doors that God opens or closes for us. Rach and I recently experienced this when we were considering another house. Everything appeared to be perfect, we were moving ahead until the house inspection. We were taught contentment and patience through the experience.
Now, some will say that the last two seem a little – well, subjective. How can we be sure it’s God who’s speaking? God back to the primary way God speaks to us – the Bible. Whether it be the counsel of a friend or and experience – it must match up with the teaching of Scripture or it is not from God. He will not contradict his Word. Sometimes we may even have dreams or impressions on the heart or sudden moments of clarity that seem to come out of nowhere and are born of the Spirit of God. How can we be sure it’s not the enemy leading us astray?
Measure it against God’s Word. Weigh it against what we know about God from the Scriptures. Compare it to what God has revealed about himself in the Bible. Where you find variance, have a care – God is not in it. If you want to be really sure, test it against not only your own reading of Scripture, but against the reading of someone you trust; someone you know who walks with God.
God still speaks to us, we just need to know how to listen and trust his voice when he calls. If you know his Word, you know his voice.
