Love Manifested in a Whisper

A few weeks ago, I was reading through a couple of chapters in my The Organic God book by Margaret Feinberg and completing the corresponding worksheet pages for the weekly women’s Bible study I've had the pleasure of attending this autumn. One of the Scriptures Ms. Feinberg directed us to in this particular section was found in 1 Kings 19:9-13*:

The Lord Appears to Elijah

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
¹⁰ He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
¹¹ 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. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ¹³ 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?”

It is a passage that God has used to tug at my heart for a number of weeks now. All I can say is wow! Just simply… wow! There is so much love conveyed in this passage that it makes my heart want to fairly burst at the seams! For starters, God had not left or abandoned Elijah, but still He called Elijah out to seek Him. Likewise, God is with us always but still He calls us to seek Him and to spend time in His presence. Then, I love how the passage goes on to describe how God did not speak to Elijah in the wind or the earthquake or the fire, but in a whisper. A whisper. To me, that moment was just saturated in love. God wasn’t present in a way that would shatter, shake or burn Elijah. Instead, He came in a way that required a closeness, a relationship and - on Elijah’s part – a listening ear. I love that God spoke not in some cosmic way but in a personal, intimate, relational way!

And it got me to thinking…

How often have I expected to see God in my circumstances, to catch sight of a bush ignited in fire but not consumed, to see the sea parted before my very eyes?

Now that’s not to say that He hasn’t or can’t or won’t reveal Himself or His will by these methods.

Because He has. And He can. And He does.

But my point is this, my friend:

It is easy to get caught up in what I can see, in trying to pinpoint the presence of God or His will based upon my circumstances, to decipher His signature in the crumbling rock or the shaking ground or the burning fire.

Sometimes, He doesn’t make His presence known in a way I can see or feel.

Sometimes, like Elijah, I have to be willing to listen.

He’s speaking.

In a whisper, He calls me by name.

“Rebecca, My child, My beloved...”

In a whisper, He calls me to seek Him.

In a whisper, He calls us all to seek Him.

It is a Creator cherishing His creation.

It is a Father bestowing favor and love upon His child.

It is a Lover wooing His beloved.

It is a King willing to make mere paupers heirs to His throne.

It is Holy Perfection beckoning us to come into His presence.

It is Love manifested in a whisper.

 

 

*Scripture taken from NIV Bible.