HEARING BUT NOT SEEING

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"And he said, 'Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.'

"And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks 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. And after the earthquake a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. 

"And after the fire... a still small voice." (1st Kings 19:11-12)

My wife and I were talking yesterday about the way God gets our attention, and I spontaneously said something like, "Sometimes we struggle to know what we should know, and what we should do, especially when it comes to making an important decision" (and) "Most of the time, it comes down to hearing, but not seeing."

I don't even know where that tidbit of wisdom came from, but I immediately thought, 

"Wow, that would make a great teaching."

The scriptures assure believers that, 

"Before I ever took my first breath, You planned every day of my life." (Psalm 119:12)

In my mind's eye I can see Father, Son and Holy Spirit sitting around a conference table, before the worlds were flung into space, and talking about what He had in mind for each of us, by name and face.

And if this is true, (and I believe it is), it behooves us to discover His plan for each day of our individual lives. The longer I live, the more concerned I have been that I might somehow miss Him, and almost every day, I pray,

"Lord, don't let me miss whatever remains of my destiny."

But in all of it, I think we are left with hearing, but not seeing. 

Notice the lead in scripture. Some pretty audacious things were happening here. A violent wind storm came up, and rocks were being spontaneously broken into pieces. And then a huge fire swept across the land. And, if all this wasn't enough, Elijah's little world was rocked by what must have seemed to be a 9.9 level earthquake on the Richter scale. 

However, it was only then that God spoke to Elijah in a still, small voice.

The prophet had seen some pretty amazing things. But, the foregoing scripture tells us that "God was not in the wind, nor the fire, nor the earthquake." Granted, the Lord used these magnificent occurrences to get Elijah's attention, but He chose to speak in a still, small voice.

I have written about the topic in the past. Sometimes we struggle to reach the right decision about what comes next. Oh, I'm not talking about what flavor of pastry we buy to satisfy our sweet tooth, nor the store we stop at on our way home from work in order to buy it. No, we're talking about some pretty crucial, life changing, almost mind bending decisions here, whether they be spiritual, or ministerial, or vocational, or relational, or financial. Decisions that we simply must get right.

I have previously written about the exact dynamics of discovering God's will for our individual lives, and I will not spend much time here "fleshing out" those "how to's." Suffice it to say, God is invested in you. He wants you to discover His pre-planned, pre-arranged choice for each and every absolutely crucial step and stage of your life. And it is His divine wherewithal to speak to you, often in that still small voice, and to help you discover... what comes next. 

Ultimately, hearing from that still, small voice depends on using your own still, small voice, and whispering the words, 

"Lord, show me your way."

"If you will seek the Lord, your God you will find Him, if you seek Him with all your heart, and all your soul." (Deut. 4:29)

by William McDonald, PhD