“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 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. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. 1 Kings 19:11-13 (NLT)
And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Elijah hid in a cave, fearing for his life when he heard the Lord tell him to stand before Him on the mountain. Elijah had just come from an incredible experience of the Lord showing His power on Mount Carmel. Elijah had hoped this would have shown Israel that the Lord was the only true God. This happened when Ahab was king of Israel, and Jezebel, his wife, had had all the prophets of the Lord killed. Elijah was the only one left. He had courageously challenged 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah to a contest on Mount Carmel, and he had won. The Lord had shown up in a huge display of power! However, it turned out that even that wasn’t enough to change the hearts of the people of Israel. As he was hiding in a cave, fearing for his life, the Lord told Him to go out on the mountain. Elijah did what the Lord asked, and a huge windstorm hit, then an earthquake, and even a fire, but Elijah knew that the Lord’s presence wasn’t in any of those enormous displays of power. Then he heard a gentle whisper and knew this was the Lord’s voice speaking to him.
So, what can we learn from this part of scripture? I believe one lesson we can learn is that God is all-powerful and can show up in the big things, but we must also remember that He is present in the small things.
For me, He is that daily whisper directing my thoughts to choose obedience to His ways rather than choosing my way. Would I like Him to show up big and work through me to cure an incurable disease? Of course, that would be amazing! Would that bring more people to know Him and accept Him as real and present in the world? Most likely not. However, I can remain confident that He is here, working in my life every day in the small things. The small acts of obedience, sacrifice, and love, might chip away at the hearts of those around me and open them more and more to receive Him.
