Beloved, this post is in response to a question; a very good and necessary question that demands our full attention in seeking the answer or proper response. For this very reason this blog post was created and inspired. It is my ongoing hope, desire and prayer that through this post, it will aid in fear being replaced by joy and splendor to draw near to and hear from God. With that being said, I now invite you Into My Heart...
This is the text in the Bible that speaks to that very question we may all have, and in its context it is spot on and quite fascinating! A man by the name of Elijah; a faithful messenger of the Lord God, knew of the former ways God had manifested His power and voice to His people (see Exodus 19:16-18; Exodus 34:5-8). However, God presented a more intimate way by going through the common channels this man was aware of. This presented two necessary means of knowing God. To do away with any guess work if this was the Lord God and to also prepare the man to hear from the Lord God in the most intimate of ways—through His Word; His very voice!
The outward manifestations of power; those three distinct ways God had revealed Himself, are designed to be an attention grabber but also to strike fear into the heart’s of sinful men who must come to the knowledge that the Lord God, ‘is the Almighty and He has the irresistible power to break the hardest hearts and that He will oppose all opposition that was or should be made against him concerning His rightful rule, reign and position of Judge over heaven and earth and all that is within them!’
Still Small Voice
Now this whisper or ‘still small voice’ is the peculiar thing for it is not what men would expect of an all powerful God. However God is not only all powerful, but He is all loving and He is, ‘compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin.’
Such wonders as the above are only reserved for those who would so choose to know Him intimately even as God who is love, and Elijah, knew of this God and would come to know Him even more intimately and that is what caused the man to revere God the most. Not His mighty power that struck terror in the hearts of men, but the Lord’s tender voice that pierced into the depths of a man’s soul.
It is written of God’s intimate voice as it pertains to men who would so choose to know Him and know Him well: “Gracious souls are more affected by the tender mercies of the Lord, than by his terrors. The mild voice of Him who speaks from the cross, or the mercy-seat, is accompanied with peculiar power in taking possession of the heart.”
One last thing Elijah and his hearing of God’s gracious, compassionate, tender and loving voice can teach us. It wasn’t the power displayed that got Elijah moving for he was not in the place he was purposed by God to be at. It was the Lord God’s voice that got him to move. We read, ‘And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.’
After hearing this still small voice; the most intimate of voices that would ever speak to his heart and simultaneously touch and navigate through his very soul, the Lord God gave Elijah instruction on what he must further do; that is, he help the man get back into the path of purpose and meaning for which the Lord God had already had for him, and it is written of Elijah’s response to hearing from God, that ‘he departed from there.’
We must never confuse God’s voice as with something very excitable or terrifying to be experienced or avoided for it is only displayed as such to sinful men whose heart’s are hard towards the Lord God of heaven and earth. However, we must prepare ourselves like one who covers their face and steps towards God, that is, with reverence and humility before an all powerful but all loving God, so that we may be met with the greatest of intimacies one can ever have and experience and that would be from hearing the Lord God speak into your heart and soul that which will make alive in you, purpose, meaning and direction, that is prepared, sustained and accompanied by God’s presence, power and great love. Amen.
One last thing concerning this still small voice that can present itself as a strong but low whisper. It presents itself in a threefold way. As a father, as a lover and as a friend.
- The father speaks and it is comforting
- The lover speaks and its influence is impacting
- The friend speaks and it is trusted.
This is how God speaks. And all of the above ought to never instill fear, even as God continuously declares, do not be afraid.
No comments:
Post a Comment