“a voice, a soft whisper”
I just got back from the weekly ministers’ association meeting. Once more we were regaled with a message of how we should look for the great and mighty moving, shaking glory of the Lord. Once more we were told that if God’s presence is REAL then it’s demonstrated by huge, thundering, glorious displays of unimaginable power. And once more I wondered about how folks can miss things as simple as the Word of God.
First, how does the Holy Spirit of God manifest Himself in the Christian’s life? How can a Christian KNOW that the Lord is “with him always, to the very ends of time”? The answer is simple – God keeps His word. He promised that if a person repents of their sin and is baptized for the forgiveness of those sins that they will receive the Holy Spirit as a gift. (Acts 2:38 – a promise to all who believe) Yes, it is true that God’s Spirit gives other gifts to God’s people, but those are not the true mark of the Spirit’s presence. If you’re walking through the forest and you see acorns on the ground you don’t expect to see a walnut tree directly overhead. Rather you expect to see an oak because that is what produces acorns. In the same way, the fruit of God’s Spirit is what the Spirit produces in the Christian’s life. And that is how we KNOW for sure that He is there.
And, just like acorns, the fruit starts small and grows over time. It does not burst full grown and ripe into the Christian’s life. Just as the acorn begins as a small, green bud, so does the Spirit’s fruit. And just as the acorn swells and grows and develops all the characteristics of a ripe acorn, so does the fruit of the Spirit grow and develop and mature over time.
I’d like to hear for once a message from I Kings 19, from when Elijah was fleeing from Jezebel – right after his great victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Here’s a man who has just won a serious spiritual battle, showing to an entire nation that God is indeed the Living and Righteous God. And yet he fled in terror at the rage of a hateful woman. And he fled to the desert and told God “I want to die.” God told him to step outside of the cave because He was about to pass that way. Here’s the passage I refer to:
Then He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the LORD’s presence.” At that moment, the LORD passed by. A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs 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 a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Suddenly, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” I Kings 19:11-13 HCSB
God was NOT in the mighty wind. God was NOT in the earthquake. God was NOT in the fire. God spoke to Elijah in “a voice, a soft whisper”. How often we don’t stop to listen, to hear God whispering His will to our ear. How often we seek God in mighty, powerful, showy ways – and miss His voice whispering in the stillness.
Is God great and powerful and mighty? Obviously. But most often He shows Himself in the small things, the quite voice of His Spirit speaking to our need – if we would just listen.
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