Day 11 – Sometimes He is in the Whisper
1 Kings 19:9-18
"… 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." (v.11-12)
Have you ever been in a place where it feels like a thousand different things are trying to bombard your senses all at once? Think: the shopping centre the week before Christmas. Music is blaring, people are talking loudly over one another, others are clanging clothes hangers back onto racks, and strangers push and shove in front of you. The fluorescent lights are blaring down, and then a toddler throws a tantrum on the other side of the store.
Hearing someone else, let alone your own thoughts, feels impossible.
Or perhaps life feels like this: your phone is buzzing, your inbox is full, you have to do the groceries, you’re meant to go to a friend’s birthday, you forgot to pay a bill, you remember you need to water the garden and then another notification pings on your phone.
It feels like you don’t have the time.
Trained psychologists, through to TikTok, are giving us the language to understand what is happening to our brains: overstimulation and sensory overload. But unlike the world, the Bible doesn't just provide the language, it provides the remedy: slow down and listen to Him. The story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19 shows us that sometimes we need to slow down and eliminate the noise (the overload!) in our lives to hear Him more clearly.
Elijah stands on the mountain to hear from the Lord, but discovers that He is not in the 'mighty windstorm', the 'earthquake' or the 'fire' (verses 11-12). He isn't in the noise; instead, as Elijah waits for the Lord, he discovers that He is in 'the sound of a gentle whisper' (verse 12). It is in the gentle whisper that Elijah waits on the mountain alone that he receives instruction from God: he learns where to go and what he needs to do next.
The Lord spoke, but Elijah had provided the space where he could listen.
Slowing down doesn't mean you need to quit your job, stop being a parent, defer your university degree or bin your phone. Through Elijah, we see what it can mean – taking the time to pause and wait on the Lord, to turn down the volume on our lives enough to hear from Him.
Because so often, He is in the gentle whisper that is so easily missed.
Family Discussion Questions
Can you share a time when God spoke to you in a gentle whisper? What about a time when God spoke, and it was more like a "shout"? What did you learn from those experiences?
What have you found most challenging about the prayer and fasting season so far?
What have you found to be the most rewarding during prayer and fasting?