Skip to main content

Quiet Whisper


          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?” (I Kings 19:12-13)

           Atheists want God to show up and do something dramatic and silly whenever they want Him to, just to prove (again and again) that He exists. One actually said that if He did so, she would never doubt again. When I pointed out that the Israelites got that wish and still doubted, she insisted that she was better than they were. 
         But Christians aren't any better than the atheists. I think it's "only human" to want the big, bold, dramatic presentation. David told God to "shatter their teeth." He called on God to come down with fire and hail from heaven and shake the mountains. Even Moses said, "Show me Your glory." Another of my friends will settle for less. She says she wants God to lower a note telling her what to do down on a fishing line.
         There are other people who say that God's quiet whisper guides them to stop here, go there, pray for one person or visit another. I'm listening to Ezekiel and God did give him minute instructions, building a model of Jerusalem, lying on his left side for 390 days, then on his right for 40 (or is it the other way around?). I know God can and does direct.
          Of course, I get anxious. What if I don't realize it's God giving the instructions? Yes, I know, His sheep "follow him because they know his voice" (John 10:4) but the devil "masquerades as an angel of light" (I Corinthians 11:14.) It brings to mind the story of Peter walking on the water. Peter was impetuous, and either impetuously brilliant or impetuously foolish. What if the "ghost" lied, claiming to be Jesus to trick Peter in committing suicide? What if "God's voice" is nothing more than my own ego
           Mistakes can be made, but Jesus proved that He is perfectly capable of rescuing those whose faith falters, and those who trust Him when someone else lies. We just need to remember that God is often not in or with the showy shouts, or the grand and glorious gestures.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more