LISTEN Listen listen

Matthew 12:34 – Jesus said, "Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." (NIV)

When I was in Israel this year I stood on a mountaintop. That day I could see all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. There was a stillness, and something that is hard to describe.

I thought of Elijah when the word of the Lord came to him:

1 Kings 19:11-13 – 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. (NIV)

The voice of the Lord was not in the things one might have thought He would have been in. He was heard in a gentle whisper, the still small voice of God.

I am sharing with you about this quiet time I had with the Lord, because the experience as I stood on that mountain was so impressive. There were no great and mighty noises to draw my attention — just the calm, quiet, almost deafening nothing.

It made me think of the biblical passage quoted above. When Elijah stood in the presence of the Lord, the Lord passed by in a gentle whisper. Though maybe not on the top of a mountain, may we all have the experience to know the quiet, gentle, whisper as the Lord passes by. It comes when we least expect it, so LISTEN, Listen, listen, for that gentle whisper. Let us cover our faces. We are in the presence of the Lord.

Prayer: Make us aware of your passing by in a whisper, even though we sometimes look for you, O Lord, in power and might. Calm our hearts, our minds and our fears of things that don't exist, when we put our trust and faith in your presence. Pass by us, in a gentle whisper. Amen.