The Gentle Whisper...

4/21/09 journal entry...

1 Kings 19:11-13 – “ Go out and stand before me on the mountain, “ the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And the voice said, “ what are you doing here, Elijah?

April 12th through 19th of 2009 was a week of fasting and prayer in our church. On April 13th during the evening service, I led the church into prayer and worship, and felt the strong presence of the Holy Spirit. On April 16th I was asked by the pastor to pray at the evening service and as I prayed I felt , literally experienced something lift off of me. All of a sudden the prayer wasn't flowing out smoothly, it became hard. The remainder of the week was a low point, felt empty inside of me; prayer, bible reading and meditation were not focused; and didn't feel the presence of the Holy Spirit.  How does one go from such spiritual highs to absolute lows and not know what happened?

The bible quote from 1 Kings 19 at the start of this blog was the answer to my questions to God during my loneliness and feeling of abandonment, a real downer! My questions as to why should God's children have to feel this way, and where God was in the midst of their turmoils? As I was driving to work on Monday, April 20th, I felt very tired, as a matter of fact completely exhausted and sleepy. Behind the wheel of the car on a busy highway with bumper to bumper traffic and tractor trailers going beside me, it was not a good feeling. I thought this could be my day. I even said a prayer to God to forgive any and all sins on my part, just in case. I thought of pulling to the side of the road and taking a bit of rest, but continued driving. I got to work safely, but felt absolutely crappy (like the guy from the V8 commercial - discombobulated!). I spoke with my friend - my supervisor and he gave me permission to take off early as there weren't any pressing matters at work.

On my drive back home, I asked God why I as his child should feel lonely and depressed (its funny how you can have all your family and friends around you, but feel completely abandoned.) There is a lot that I have to be thankful for. I've enjoyed God's mercy all my life even when I was not a faithful christian. That day as I was driving back it was not so much a prayer to God, but it was more of a conversation as between any two people, at times angry. Finally, I told him that I knew he could hear me...I know you hear me God, I know you hear me!

As I have written previously in other blogs, I have concluded that no matter what the circumstance, we should always seek God's presence. What I mean by this is, we should seek his presence in prayer and reading of scripture even when our hearts are weighed down with all kinds of troubles and our minds are unsettled by the circumstances surrounding our lives. It is in our utter weakness and state of helplessness that God's glory is magnified. For that, we have to seek his presence in our lives at all times – good & bad.

I took off from work the following day. Sat in my room to worship and pray. Following which I read my bible. Not knowing what to read, or where to start, I opened the bible and it happened to be 1 Kings 19.  I had completed reading the books of 1st & 2nd Kings previously, but what I write here never occurred to me until today. The Holy Spirit, God, reveals his messages at the most appropriate time in our lives.  This is how the message answered to my needs and opened up to me through the scripture I quoted at the beginning of this blog...

Upon hearing the threats of Queen Jezebel, King Ahab's wife, upon his life for destroying the priests of Baal at Mt. Carmel, Elijah forgot all the mighty deeds that God had performed through him. He forgot how the Lord had fed him by ravens (a bird known to snatch food out of your hands!) at the Kerith Brook; how God provided when he prayed for the widow of Zarephath who was preparing to die with her son after they ate the last piece of bread as she had no other food nor the means for it; Upon Elijah's praying, God provided for her enough flour and oil supernaturally until the next rain came; how God helped him to raise the dead son of the same widow; how at Mount Carmel God sent fire from heaven at his command during the competition with priests of Baal and burned up a completely water soaked offering and altar, and the water that had ponded around the altar; Elijah then slaughtered the priests of Baal following this incident; how God sent rain when he prayed and God gave him special strength to race ahead of Ahab's chariot. (Refer to chapters 17, 18 and 19 in the book of 1 Kings.)

Elijah and the prophets of Baal

Elijah fed by the ravens

Elijah and the son of the widow from Zarephath

Elijah was so taken in by fear for his life that he forgot all the mighty works of God that was performed through him – Elijah. 1Kings 19:3-4 (NLT) says, “Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the desert, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” He was literally praying to God to take his life.  He'd had enough and couldn't take any more in his life, wanting to quit. But he was forgetting that even during his periods of let downs, his enemy had not triumphed over him. Why? For his Lord was with him. As I was reading Elijah's prayer, it reminded of my state and my prayer to God.

The Bible says, as Elijah lay down and slept under the broom tree, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” He looked around and saw some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again. Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, for there is a long journey ahead of you.” So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mt. Sinai (also called Mt. Horeb), the mountain of God. There he came to a cave, where he spent the night.

But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed everyone of your prophets. I alone am left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.

The Lord then told him “ Go out and stand before me on the mountain.“ And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “ what are you doing here, Elijah?”

Map of Israel during Elijah's time

He replied again, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I alone am left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” God's response to Elijah was vs. 18. of chapter 19, “Yet I will preserve seven thousand others in Israel who have never bowed to Baal or kissed him!” He was saying to Elijah, you are not alone Elijah, there are others who are going through what you are going through, I have preserved them just as I have you.

These scriptures gave me a new perspective into my circumstances. When God asked Elijah to go out and stand before him on the mountain, he was telling Elijah that He – God – was larger than the mountain and Elijah.  God's presence engulfed the entire mountain that Elijah was to stand upon. When the terrible winds that sheared the rocks off the mountain, the earthquake that shook the entire mountain and the fire that burned everything on the mountain happened, Elijah was still preserved. The ground that Elijah stood on was safe ground. The Bible says that God was not in the wind, nor the earthquake, neither in the fire. If Elijah had realized that even with all these natural calamities happening around him, he was standing safe on firm ground, he would have taken his eyes off of his troubles and focused back on God and remembered the marvellous things He had done for him in the past. If we are to focus on Him, rather than on the wind, the earthquake and fire in our lives, we will come to realize that the calamities will not destroy us, for our God will preserve us in his hands.  We will then hear his gentle whisper, the whisper that reminds us of his promises that he faithfully upholds for his children.

It was encouraging to see  that Elijah – the mighty prophet of God was so human at his core, with strengths and weaknesses, like me, was so fixated on his problems that he sounded like a broken record (ref vs. 10 & 14) each time he answered the Lord's question as to what he was doing there – running away from his enemies, showing a lack of faith. We forget what God has done in our lives when we pay attention to the negative circumstances surrounding our lives.  As we pay attention to the noise and begin listening to it, we become unsettled and fear takes over. Sometimes, God has to send us on a long journey to tire us out, as he sent Elijah on a long journey, just to get us to focus back on him; but as he did for Elijah, he sustains us with just enough energy to make the journey. It is then, in our broken state that we finally pay attention to him and hear his gentle whispers, that say “I am with thee until the very end of time.”

Isaiah 41:10 – Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Instead of thinking about the storm that split the rocks on the mountain he was standing on, the earthquake that shook the entire mountain without breaking a single bone in him, and the fire that consumed everything but him – Why? For the Lord covered him completely including the mountain he was standing on. All Elijah could think of was the threat against his life from Delilah. I was doing the same, forgetting what God had done for me and was just consumed by my present situation.

We have short memories when it comes to blessings we have enjoyed from the Lord. Our issues may seem like an insurmountable mountain to us, but our Lord asks that we stand on that mountain that is our issue, in his presence. His presence engulfs the entire mountain with you in it and more...the Winds, the Earthquakes, and the Fires. Take your eyes of the noise in your life and plant them on your Lord who encompasses and engulfs your insurmountable mountains. Stand still in his presence and you will hear his gentle whispers. You will know that He is God.

Pressing on when times get hard!

Remember to be persistent in your prayer, so the Bible teaches. If you note in the case of Elijah, he prayed and immediately the rain stopped in Israel for 3.5 years; he prayed and immediately fire from heaven consumed the water soaked altar and sacrifice, defeating the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel. Elijah had to pray and stretch over the dead son of the widow of Zarephath three times before he came back to life. He had to pray and send his servant seven times to see if the storm clouds and rain had come. Be persistent in your prayer and the Lord will answer in his time – the right time! Don't give up!

In the New Testament we read a similar event in the lives of the disciples,

Mathew 8:23-27 (NLT) – Jesus calms the storm

Then Jesus got in the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a terrible storm came up, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went to him and woke him up, shouting, “Lord save us! We're going to drown! And Jesus answered, “ Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he stood up and rebuked the  wind and waves, and suddenly all was calm. The disciples just sat there in awe. “Who is this?” they asked themselves. “Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Again, God was not in the storm... He was in the boat with his disciples.  He is right beside you. Have faith that the storm that seemingly would capsize your boat and drown you has no authority over you, a child of God, when the one who created you in his own image is with you. Walk with God! Be obedient to his commands! The wind will come to pass, the earthquake will pass and the fire will pass. His gentle whispers will sustain your life!

No Doubt from Petra