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Still Small Voice

Elijah on the mountain:

1 Kings 19

  • Wind
  • Earthquake
  • Fire
  • distracted from the still small voice (maybe it was always there, but we weren’t listening)
  • Still Small Voice (expounded from the Hebrew
    • a whisper
    • thin, small, fine
    • sound, voice

God has it covered; peacefully, reassuringly.

Remove ourselves from the drama. Stop – be still and listen.

Psalms 4:4
Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

Psalms 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Mark 4:39-40
39. And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis)

Genesis 3: 1-7
1. Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2. And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons

Desire to know everything

Human Beings have a desire to know everything. Technology these days has enabled us to be able to get any knowledge at our fingertips whenever we want. We want to know details as soon as they are found out. If we know something that someone else doesn’t we are one better, we have a leg up. The competitive edge! (Cain & Abel)

There is not just knowing the information, but also knowing every single aspect of it.  And despite that, it doesn’t matter because the other person has the wrong opinion anyway !! So it’s not just a battle of information, but opinions  about that information and how persuasive it is or how you can make it!!

All this points to is our lack of being content. It is never enough. We are never satisfied. Our desire for more is insatiable, because when we speak of something new we becoming “popular” and gain attention for the individual.

1 Timothy 6:6
But godliness with contentment is great gain.

John 3:30
He must increase, but I must decrease.

Extremely appealing, but by allowing it (distractions, useless noise & information) into our lives we also become distracted.

So we are consumed by “information” that we have no need for. Knowledge where its main purpose is just to fill our mind. Self satisfying news that serves to push out any useful understanding like “How to live forever!”.

Daniel 12:4
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

Competing for our attention

With all the information feeding our thirst for knowledge, our attention gets drawn in this way and that way. Competing and grading for our every second of consumption. And if we allow it to, it pushes out the knowledge of God and so WE can fix everything ourselves with OUR own knowledge.

Romans 1:28
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

What is happening in our life?

Elijah had a series of good runs. These periods of incredible boldness and being used to demonstrate the power and authority of God … but through all this it appears as though he had a thought in his mind that he was “the only one” (that was doing good, being used by good, going through this situation, etc etc) and there came this moment in his life where he was challenged and fear took over. And the result – he ran.

Maybe we can relate to this. Maybe we feel like we are alone and all we are feeling, seeing and experiencing is:
– The wind shaking the world around us
– Earthquakes trying to knock us off our feet
– And fire consuming everything we see

But none of these are God!

The Wind
  • Fierce strong winds can be incredibly damaging flattening buildings & trees, destroys crops
  • Makes it hard to walk and if (as in this case) it starts to moves rocks, it’s not only the wind that causes us difficulty, but the effects of that wind that we have to watch out for.
  • Once again, a light breeze can be hugely beneficial, by moving on bad weather, drying clothes, cools a hot day – but it’s a fine line.
The earthquakes
  • The things we thought were solid and unmovable
  • The noise and fear
  • The damage to things and people and daily life
The Fire
  • Looks spectacular from a distance but when you get to close it burns
  • In a small contained controlled environment it be hugely beneficial (heat, cooking) but that gives a sense of comfort and peace
  • A large fire is out of control, erratic

Maybe God is trying to speak to us, guide us, direct us, but because it’s doing it in such a quiet fashion we miss it over the glamour and glitz of us knowing everything?

… a still small voice …

I’m sure our first response is “well can’t God speak up?!” (aka Show us a sign and it suffices us – Matthew 12:38) but to seek out an answer (to pray) from God, requires us to remove the noise and allow our heart to truly seek Him out.

Matthew 6:6
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Thought:
Saul being made blind when Jesus spoke to him

Maybe part of the blindness was so that he became acutely aware of the voice of God. That it removed his default senses to allow him to actually hear ...

Job 22:21
Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.

Psalm 55:16-18
16. As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.
17. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.
18. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me.

1 Samuel 1:17
Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.
(to Hannah asking God for a son – Samuel)

Jeremiah 29:11-13
11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
13. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Isaiah 26:3-4
3. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
4. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

Isaiah 54:10
For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.

James 3:17
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.