Not that you really care, but by way of a little background: I typically do my devotions in a book of the Bible and either Proverbs or Psalms. Yesterday, I was in I Kings and Psalms (as I have been for about a month now). It always amazes me when God brings two different books together on one topic during my reading. This time it was about the voice of God and how different that voice is sometimes.
In Psalm 29:3-9 the psalmist describes God’s voice like this:
3The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea.
The God of glory thunders.
The Lord thunders over the mighty sea.
4The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
5The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars;
the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf;
he makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox.
7The voice of the Lord strikes
with bolts of lightning.
8The voice of the Lord makes the barren wilderness quake;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks
and strips the forests bare.
In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”
Here God’s voice is awesome, powerful and destructive. The description is impressive as the Lord’s voice “splits the mighty cedars” and “twists mighty oaks”. As a guy, I appreciate this kind of raw energy, strength, might, and power!
In 1 Kings 19:11-13, we get a similar picture with one little (but important) difference:
11“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. (Emphasis mine).
Did you see it (you should since I emphasised it)? =0) God’s voice this time appeared the same at first, but God wasn’t in those moments. Instead, God was in the “sound of a gentle whisper”. Sometimes we need the raw power of God’s voice and sometimes we need the gentle whisper from God.
The real question is:
Are we listening (regardless of the volume)?
