I’d like to take a moment to review a piece of Old Testament history, focusing on a specific event that occurred during the life of the Prophet Elijah. One of those moments occurred in about 866 BC when Elijah fled from Mt. Carmel in northern Israel to escape the wrath of Queen Jezebel after all of the prophets of Baal were killed by the sword as ordered by Elijah. So, where did Elijah go? He fled to Mt. Horeb in Arabia, a journey that took him over 40 days. While sheltering in a cave, he felt God speaking to him. Let’s pick up the dialogue from the book of 1 Kings:

God said to Elijah: “Go out of the cave and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by” (1 Kings 19:11).   

And while Elijah was standing outside the cave, something quite incredible happened:

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the 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 a fire came, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper (1 Kings 19:11-12)

Elijah was well-aware of God speaking through powerful natural processes. It was a strong east wind that blew all night that God used to part the waters so that the Israelites could escape the Egyptian army and cross into Midian; It was the perfect timing of an earthquake that caused a landslide near the town of Adam that dammed up the Jordan River so that the Israelites could cross over and stand before the walls of Jerico; and it was fire that consumed the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah during the time of Abraham.

But this time, Elijah discovered that God was not going to show Himself through these powerful displays of nature, but it would be through a “gentle whisper.” And it was then that God spoke to him saying:

“What are you doing here Elijah” (1 Kings 19:9)?

Although the dialogue between Elijah and the LORD is much longer, I would like to focus on just two things from this passage:

1) God spoke to Elijah in a “gentle whisper.” Our lives are often consumed with so much clutter and noise that we just can’t hear God speaking to us, even though He is desperately trying to do so. Friends, we must all take some time to simply be quiet before the LORD, reading and meditating on His Word. For most followers of Jesus, including myself, God speaks to us through His Word, the Bible, and if you and I want God to speak to us, we need to take time in His Word each day.

2) God was confronting Elijah for running away from the ministry to which he had been called. Here was an anointed prophet of God hiding in a cave hundreds of miles from the people to whom he was called to minister. God’s question was appropriate: “What are you doing here?” As followers of Christ, we need to understand that each one of us has been called to minister to the needs of others. If you have been running from God and hiding in a cave to escape your calling to ministry, then stop long enough for God to reaffirm your calling and then get down to the business of blessing others through the gifts and talents that God has given you.

May the Lord help each of us to carve out those quite times with God and His Word, and then to reaffirm His calling on each of our lives today. God bless you.