Word For This Sunday - I Kings 19:11-12 - God's Still Small Voice

God’s creation really amazes me.  God indeed is a great creator.  Nothing can be compared to the beauty and excellence of His creation.  Just look around you, and God’s creativity and artistry are so evident.  God’s creation will forever amaze me.  One of the things that amazes is that of all God’s creation, we humans, are the only ones who were created with a voice that we can use not just to communicate, but to fully express ourselves.  Of course, animals too can produce sounds and even communicate, but not all animals understand each other, and only humans can produce a voice that can be comprehended and understood by all humans.  Also, the words we speak are not just a product of reverberating sounds most of the time; they come from our hearts and minds.  Moreover, the words we speak, most of the time, do not only reveal our hearts and thoughts but also create impact and change to those who listen.

But can a voice really make an impact?  Can mere words bring about such a great change?

Consider these examples:

1. A simple cry from a baby moves a mother or a father to make an appropriate action no matter what time of the day or night it is.

2. An effortless wish from a wife results to a husband’s loving response no matter how expensive the wish is.

3. The ecstatic response from a friend who hears the voice of a friend whom he has not seen or heard in years no matter how far apart they from each other.

Even in the Word of God, we will be able to see examples of how mere words brought about tremendous change and impact:

1. In Genesis 1:2, it says that the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.  But what did God do.  He started to speak.  Every time it says, “Then God said,” something amazing happens.

2. Remember the Roman Officer who sent some friends to Jesus to say (Luke 7:7-9), “Lord, don’t go to any trouble for me! I am not good enough for you to come into my house. And I am certainly not worthy to come to you. Just say the word, and my servant will get well.”  Jesus’ response was this, “ When Jesus heard this, he was so surprised that he turned and said to the crowd following him, “In all of Israel I’ve never found anyone with this much faith!”  And of course when they returned home, they found that the servant became well.

I can still give similar examples but it boils down to one thing if mere words can bring about change and impact; imagine what the Word of God can truly do.

This Sunday, let us look at a story in the life of Elijah that highlights the point I am trying to make. 

It is a story about the mighty prophet who once called fire from heaven, brought a dead boy back to life and fed a family during a time of drought by not letting the supply of their oil and flour to run out.  But now, he is running for his life, so discouraged and depressed, he wants to die.  The reason for that - he heard the angry voice of Jezebel, promising to do to him what he did to the prophets of Baal.

What could possibly bring a depressed, frustrated, ready-to-quit prophet back to being mighty, powerful and ready-to-face-anyone again?

In I Kings 19:11-12, it declares, “And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹²and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire;”

Elijah experienced the wind, earthquake and fire, but those were not enough to cheer him up.  They simply didn’t work.  Why?  Elijah was so used to experiencing the manifest power of God.  He can call fire from heaven.  He can command the wind and the clouds so that there won’t be any rain.  By his words the earth won’t be able to produce any crops at all.  And yet, Elijah was looking for something else.  Something that goes beyond the manifestation of God’s power – the latter part of verse 12 calls it, “A still small voice.”  Elijah knew that God’s power is important and essential, but to him there’s something more important, that is the voice of the Lord.  That still small voice.  Elijah is not just after what God can do, but more importantly what goes in the heart and mind of God.  So that’s why, Elijah did not find God in the strong wind, he did not find Him in earthquake, he did not find Him in fire.  But he found God when he heard His still small voice.

I don’t know your situation right now.  I don’t know what’s happening in your life.  I don’t know what’s going on in your heart and mind.  But listen to the word of the Lord.  Listen to His still small voice, because if God’s still small voice made a great impact to Elijah, the mighty prophet, I am sure it will bring about so much change and impact to your life no matter who you are and no matter what’s happening in your life.