Do You Hear What I Hear?

We need to be careful when we assume God is not speaking. It may be that he is simply speaking in a way that we do not expect or prefer. The Holy Spirit of God does not operate at our beckon call or according to our pleasure!  He operates as HE chooses and moves according to HIS will.  So often we are out of sync with Him because we simply expect or prefer something else. Perhaps we look for drama, or some kind of emotional experience, and when God simply speaks to us in a matter-of-fact way, we miss it.

I’ve known Christians who travel great distances because they hear of the Spirit moving in a far-away city. They long to be “touched” by God in a certain way. There’s nothing wrong with that desire – but you don’t live in a city in another state – you live where you live! You don’t need to “chase” the Holy Spirit! Don’t you realize that God can touch and speak to you wherever you ARE?

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?” (1 Kings 19:11-13)

Notice:–

• Elijah stood on the mountain, where God had told him to stand in His presence –

There may be moments when God says, “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you and you will answer me.” (Job 38:3 & 40:7) So if the Lord tells you to go stand at a certain place, you need to obey that. But we also need to realize that God IS present – everywhere, all the time (omnipresent)! So wherever we stand, we stand in His presence. Hopefully we become more and more aware and more and more sensitive to that FACT as we continue our journey with Him.

• The gentle whisper came TO Elijah. He simply stood and listened and he received it.

I love how the Spirit moves at our church almost every Sunday. Yes – almost EVERY Sunday! Are we paying attention? It’s not full of embellishments or pronouncements or drama.  So often, it’s just simple and matter-of-fact. Am I saying more dramatic or emotional churches are wrong? Of course not! God can speak through anyone He chooses in any venue He chooses! But so often in my experience, it’s a quiet voice, a nudging, a leading. Are we listening?