When God Whispers
By Grant Gaines
Shhhh…Do you hear that? Listen closely and you will hear what I am talking about.
Regardless of what you just heard, the gift of hearing is a beautiful thing. The human ear is able to detect sounds between 20 and 20,000 hertz. However, just because you don’t hear something doesn’t mean that it is not making sound.
In fact, we are able to hear only a tiny percentage of the sound waves that are bouncing all around us. It’s crazy to think that right now there are thousands of sounds all around us that are either too high or too low for our ears to register. But it’s true-if any sound is outside our 20-20,000 hertz range, we can’t hear it.
You know, I think God flirts with our hearing limitations a lot. I believe He speaks to us so often in the 20-24 hertz or 19,000-20,000 hertz range-right towards our limits rather than right in the center. And that’s the reason why we often don’t feel like we hear God as often as we should-because He is whispering to us.
A great example of this is in 1 Kings 19 when Elisha the prophet was standing in the mouth of a cave as the Lord passed by. “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. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19:11-12, NIV).
As the text goes on, we begin to realize that God revealed Himself to Elijah through that gentle whisper. With that being said, it’s easy to understand how we can miss God so often. We expect God reveal Himself in the powerful wind, the earthquake, or the fire so that’s where our focus remains. However, it’s not in the powerful wind, fire, or earthquake-those I-feel-God-moments-that God most often reveals Himself, but rather in the everyday circumstances-the gentle whispers of life.
Now if I could be really honest with you, the problem with the story in 1 Kings 19 is not so much that Elijah was distracted by the fire, the wind, or the earthquake-how could you not be distracted with all of that going on around you? The real issue I have is that God whispered. Why would the Lord God Almighty use such a quiet voice to grab Elijah’s attention? The Bible describes God as a Shepherd that would leave the 99 sheep in search of the one lost lamb (Luke 15:4). He is a God who is actively trying to grab our attention and our affection. So why would this loving God use a whisper as one of His main forms of communication?
To help us answer this question, I think an illustration might be helpful. There is a saying that is pretty prominent in our culture today-bigger is better. Advertisements will tell you that you need a bigger house, bigger car, and bigger TV. The bigger it is, the happier off you will be.
But bigger isn’t always better. For example, no one wants a bigger waist line, no one wants a bigger credit card bill, and no one wants a bigger headache. Sometimes bigger isn’t better.
This couldn’t be any more true than when you’re trying to talk to someone. If someone is across a noisy, crowded room, you need to YELL AND SCREAM to get their attention. But if you tried the same tactic with someone who was standing right next to you in a quiet library, they’re not going to appreciate your 20,000 hertz of hoopin’ and hollarin’ too much.
You see, when you’re close to someone you don’t yell-you talk in a soft and calm voice. You don’t need to scream and wave your arms because they are right next to you.
With that in mind, it’s interesting to look back at 1 Kings 19 and to read that God used a gentle whisper to reveal Himself to Elijah-because He was close to Elijah, because He knew him, because He was with him. Isn’t it encouraging knowing that the reason that God doesn’t always use a megaphone to shout into your life is because He is close enough to whisper to you?
It may not be 20,000 hertz and it may not even be 10,000 hertz, but if you lean in close you can hear the gentle voice of Immanuel-God with us. Can you hear Him?
Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
©Grant Gaines 2013
