Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
“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?” 1 Kings 19:11-13, ESV
The earth around cracks and screams as a fantastic natural phenomena rips through the land. Great winds, a mighty earthquake, a great fire, all incredible displays of unbridled power. Surely, God rests His presence in these things. But He was not.
When we ask God to come intervene in our lives, we often seem to have a predetermined outlook on what it means for God to arrive. We have already cooked up the perfect recipe to address all of our issues and problems and only need God to partake in this perfect plan. But what we often find is that God does not come intervene in the ways we had imagined. The issues that we faced led to other hardships, the problems that we cried for deliverance from seemingly went unanswered. We expected God to call down the fire from heaven to show our modern day priests of Baal that He is alive and that He reigns supreme. But we do not get the awesome displays that we had envisioned.
Instead, we face the consequences of our mistakes. Our issues remain until they are resolved. Our problems linger until we address them. Why would God allow this to happen? Why couldn’t He use His miraculous might to lift us out of these hardships. We know He has the power to! Why is it that in our low moments, it feels as though God is not listening to our supplication?
Behold, God is there. He has been there all this time, and He will be there for all of time. It is not in the displays of God’s power that we truly find peace in, rather it is the presence of God Himself. God shows off His power to Elijah, but His reassurance comes from a quiet intimate voice. He encourages His prophet in a moment of weakness and unease not through supernatural acts, it was the aftermath of a supernatural act of God which brought him to this point, but rather in the form of a gentle personal relationship. While God may do great and mighty works, those great and mighty works may take the form of a still small voice.
Stephen Lee