We are people who tend to take various things for granted. Some of the things that we take for granted are large such as the time that we have for loved ones or the freedoms that we have as a nation. Other things are of the smaller variety. How many of us take for granted the simple task of turning on a switch and having light throughout our house.
Yesterday, during the storms we lost power and as of the time of this writing we are still without power. Having two kids and a sump pump required that we purchase a generator. We use the generator to run the bare minimum such as the sump pump, the refrigerator, the internet, and the TV. This morning the TV and internet went out as well and suddenly I found myself in a quiet house. After complaining to myself for a bit, I suddenly realized the opportunity that was presented to me. The opportunity was to spend some time in the quiet to pray and communicate with the Lord.
In 1 Kings 19:11-13, we find Elijah running from Jezebel and dealing with depression, wishing that his life would end. In the midst of this situation, Elijah is wanting to hear from God. The Lord speaks to him and tells him to go out of the cave to the mountain. Elijah does that and he experiences rock splitting wind, a powerful earthquake, and fire. Each of these loud events, Elijah surely thought he would have heard from the Lord and yet he didn’t. Elijah does hear the Lord in a gentle whisper and some scholars actually agree that what Elijah experienced was simply silence.
We all desire to hear from God but do we put ourselves in situations to hear from Him? We live in a world that is filled with a great deal of noise and all of the noises are vying for our attention. In the midst of all of the noise, how are we supposed to hear from God. We must resolve to put ourselves in situations where we experience silence and are in a better position to hear what it is that God is saying to us.
When the Lord speaks to Elijah he changes his perspective. Elijah felt that he was the only one left who worshiped the Lord and God reminds him that He had left a remnant of some seven thousand that hadn’t bowed the knee to Baal. As we experience silence and hear from the Lord, our perspective changes too and sometimes that is all that is needed in our lives.