Whispers In The Wilderness Series

Second, go to your place to meet God. The angel makes Elijah bread. Bread is important in Scripture. It was considered a staple of life. Elijah eats to get enough strength to make his way further south until he reaches Mt. Horeb, also known as Mt. Sinai. You remember that this was the mountain Moses ascended when he encountered God and received the 10 commandments. This is the place where covenant was made, where the Hebrews became God’s people and where faith began. Because of this, Mt. Horeb was thought to be the place where God resides. And so Elijah goes there to meet God. And so one of the questions we need to ask is when we are in the wilderness, “Where is the place we go to meet God?” Where is your Mt. Sinai? Is it here in the sanctuary or the Prayer Room or a place in your house? Where do you go to meet God?

Third, listen for God. Elijah arrives and he’s in a cave in the cleft of the rock and waiting for God to speak. Now I don’t know about you, but I have never heard God speak to me verbally. But you can hear God speak to you every day when you read the Bible. A word or phrase on the page might jump out to you or a thought or impression might come to your mind. Sometimes it doesn’t happen the first time you read through the passage but the second or the third time. Or God can speak when you hear a Christian song or through the words of a loved one or when you pray and intentionally remain silent listening for God. And I hear him through a thought or impression. Well the Lord said to Elijah, “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.” The NRSV says that Elijah heard the sound of “sheer silence.” The KJV calls it “the still small voice of God.”

Fourth, practice silence. The problem is our world is noisy and hurried and that tends to drown out the voice of God. There’s the voices of the people around me, the radio, the TV, the cell phone which bring tweets, emails, texts and phone calls. Then there’s the voice of the culture and the messages in my head telling me, “You’re dumb!” “You’re worthless?” “You’re not smart enough, talented enough, educated enough.” And part of we need to do is to quiet the voices. That’s what happened to Elijah. There was the storm and then the fire but then it finally got to a place of quiet where he listened in the sheer silence. It’s so hard to find silence. I struggle with this in my own home. With two kids, a wife, two cats, a dog and two in-laws and cell phones and TV’s turned on everywhere. But to hear the voice of God, we’ve got to find the silence. Mother Teresa says, “In the silence of the heart, God speaks.” But for God to speak, we need to find the silence. I don’t know about you but I need more silence in my life. That’s where Elijah heard from God.