After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 1 King 19:12
In the midst of uncertainties of his future and the enormous challenges in life, Elijah went to seek God. He was expecting to meet God in earthquakes and fire, in the spectacular display of power of nature. But he did not find Him there. It is interesting to note that it was God who asked Elijah to go and stand on the mountain. I believe God was there as He said He would be, but Elijah could not hear Him in the earthquake and the fire. He was not still enough to hear from God in a fresh new way.
I find that when we are too busy or there is too much “noise” around us, even if God is present in our situation, we cannot hear Him. The description of “gentle whisper” also means “the sound of silence” or “a whispering wind”. “Whispering wind” is that gentle wind that we experience at the early morning in the Palestinian land, before the break of dawn. We are not certain how long apart between the earthquake, fire and the gentle whisper.
For us to hear from God speaking personally to us, we need to find that place of stillness or silence, undisturbed from the demands and the noises of the world. If we want to meet God at that intimate level, we need to find a time in our daily life to fix an appointment with Him, consistently. Begin this week and find that time – early in the morning.