“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love.”

Zephaniah 3:17a
Elijah was expecting God to speak to him in some powerful, jarring way. He thought he would experience Him in a rock-splitting wind or in an event off the Richter scale! When that didn’t happen, he supposed he would encounter Him at least in the fire. But no, at this time the Lord was not in any of these. Elijah heard God instead in a “gentle whisper.” Another translation calls it a “sound of sheer silence.”

Often when we are facing a pressing difficulty, when we feel an urgent need of an answer from God, or when our prayers seem to go unheard, we will feel anything but peaceful. We question whether we have prayed properly or whether we have enough faith.

But God is in that “sound of sheer silence,” perhaps even more powerfully than if we would have had spectacular answers to our prayers. He is quieting us with His love. Our busy hearts can rest and be silent in Him, confident that whatever comes our way goes through the hand of our God first. And He is the One who hears us and who loves us more than we can imagine.



Scripture Focus

1 Kings 19:9-12

Insight

In times that feel like God’s sheer silence, trust and worship Him in the peace of that stillness.

Bible In A Year

  • Exodus 3-4
  • Psalm 27
  • Mark 7

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