Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;
(1Ki 19:11 NKJV)
and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
(1Ki 19:12 NKJV)
Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and they would just talk and talk and not let you get a word in? Or, by the time they finished talking you forgot what you wanted to say or the point you wanted to make was so far gone that it seemed pointless to even bring it up? This is very similar to what we do in prayer. We come to God with a laundry list of things that we want and need and for the whole time we never stop to hear what God has to say to us. There is no doubt in my mind that many of us if not all of us wants God’s perfect will to be done in our lives. But, I believe that we have a hard time defining what his will is for us. If I ask for your advice on something and before you can give it to me I continue talking, I will never give you a chance to give me what I asked for. The one thing I know about the God we serve is that he isn’t rude. He will let you talk until he has a chance to speak to you. But, then when he answers it’s the still small voice.
Let me give you an example. I was praying about a major move that I will be making in my life soon, I felt that it was the right thing but I needed confirmation. I was waiting for the thunder role, the lightning to flash, the earth to shake and then the dove to fly by so that I knew it was Him but, none of that happened. He confirmed the things to me in a very subtle way. Through interactions with people who I never mentioned anything to and he also gave me signs. Not to mention the initial small voice that I kept hearing telling me that this is what I am supposed to be doing.
What I am trying to say is, God speaks to us all of the time we just miss him. We have to turn off all of the noise and chaos around us and even turn off our mouth sometimes and listen for God. There are so many things God wants to do for us and bless us with but until we learn to listen for the still small voice we will always miss him My prayer is that we would take the time to shut everything out and listen for his voice!
God Bless You and Stay In The Race
Pastor Jonathan Roundtree Sr.