To Hear Him In the Whisper

This isn't really another installment of Giants, Mountains, and Fire, but 🤫sshhh,  some added thoughts.

For many of us our lives are busy. 

They are noisy with the demands of our daily life, jobs, appointments, family, commitments, even our hobbies, social lives, even in this pandemic.

They also can be noisy with illness, strife, tragedy etc

In times of stress and difficulty we often seek others comfort, opinions,  even approval. 

But occasionally  we find that there is silence...there aren't any demands, no appointments, nothing scheduled, no one seems to be available at the moment...no one to call on..we or they are out of  the service area, we get answering machines and voicemails, they have commitments of their own, etc.

But when reading the scripture I have used for the last several weeks a thought came to me...

📖 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”  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 came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.  Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:11-13

Maybe that as a time when I am supposed to be listening.... in the silence 

Because sometimes God is in the quiet, gentle whisper.

Sometimes He needs all those distractions to be silenced for a time...so it is only Him and me.

Sometimes He needs the support network He ha provided for me to be "on pause" for a time so that I rely on Him alone and can hear Him more clearly.

Even the most spiritual, in tune, God worshipping person can become distracted in times of stress or trial and the first person turned to isn't necessarily God.

There are times when it all needs to stripped away so it becomes Him and I.

📖 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15:1-4

Some things are cut away permanently, things that are not of God, that distract us from where He is leading us.

But sometimes there things that are removed are for a season, as with pruning plants ...there is a season in which you prune in order to improve the fruitfulness of the plant.

Sometimes for us the things around us that give us support or make up our daily lives are "paused" for a season to give us that time, that new perspective.

So when I can't seem to reach my support system, or they haven't seemed to reach out to me, or the things I was counting on for that day have been canceled or rescheduled ....instead of feeling desolate, isolated, even abandoned or forgotten I have to remember to take that time to be still and listen for the gentle whisper.

📖 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

🙏Praying for your opportunity to be still and hear the gentle whisper🤫❤