In the Whisper
At the mountain of God, Horeb, Elijah came to a cave where he took shelter. Then the LORD said to him, "Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will be passing by." A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing 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 there was fire— but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave. 1 Kings 19: 9, 11-13
Interestingly, God did not come to Elijah in the forceful elements of the strong wind, the earthquake, or the fire. He came and spoke to Elijah in a whisper. It reminds me of a TV commercial for a perfume that was very popular when I was growing up. The tagline in the commercial was, “If you want to capture someone’s attention – whisper.”
That’s what God did. He whispered and He wanted to capture Elijah’s attention. He is an all-knowing and all-powerful God and yet He didn’t frighteningly approach him. He intimately spoke to Elijah. Think about it, when someone whispers it requires the other person to get physically close to the person so they can hear. Sometimes even cupping their hand and speaking directly into the ear. Close intimate contact.
That’s how God wants to speak with us, intimately. He wants to whisper in our ears that He loves us. He wants to spend time with us, but He doesn’t bulldoze His way into our lives. He patiently waits until we slow down and stop to listen. Elijah attentively waited for God at the entrance of the cave until he could hear God in the whisper. The key is that we need to stop and be silent to hear God.
We need to turn off all the noise in our lives. Turn off the TVS, the radio, the demands of work, raising kids, and the house chores. We must stop and intentionally be quiet. We must turn our attention to God and just be still. God speaks in the whispers of our hearts. That internal voice that we hear when we quiet our bodies and our minds.
I have learned that the best time for me to be quiet and spend time with God is early morning. That time while my husband is still sleeping, and the house is silent. I grab a hot cup of coffee, sit on my couch or the patio and just quietly begin the day. I let the silence surround me and I find that my mind is not racing a million miles a minute early in the morning. In the quiet solitude, I am able to turn my ear to God and just listen. I often write the words I speak to God, and I pour out those thoughts that well up in my heart. The emotions, the struggles, the joys, the pain, or the anger. This is how I can hear God whisper His love to me.
I always have such a sense of peace during this quiet intimate prayer time with God. It becomes a dialogue between lovers. I whisper to God and He whispers back wanting me to know how much He loves me. He wants me to tell him every intimate detail of my life and about myself because that’s what lovers do.
Think about when you see newlyweds. They are so wrapped up in each other that they never notice anyone around them. They are continuously holding hands, laughing, and whispering. That’s how God wants to be with us, loving us, whispering to us, and holding us. He longs for us to stop and pay attention to Him. He longs to be the whisper in our hearts.
Today, let us shut out the noise of our busy lives. Let us find our quiet and turn our ears to God and listen. Let us ask God to speak to us in the whispers of our hearts.
© 2023 Kendall Berry Lasseigne
