And the Wind Blew...

The other day the wind was blowing quite forcefully around here. A bit strange for Dar weather, but it brought a nice breeze and I was totally fine with it. Anything that makes the day cooler I welcome. As I laid there on my couch listening to the wind blow, I began to think about how God speaks to us. And I thought about Elijah and how God told him to go stand on the mountain before the Lord. While he was standing there a great wind blew, but God wasn't in it. Then an earthquake came, but God was not in it and a fire came but God wasn't in it and finally a gentle blowing came and Elijah heard this and went to the entrance of a cave (1 Kings 19). I began to think about how we always look for God in the big things but we hardly ever do in the small things. And I think that is one reason why He does allow the great tragedies of hurricanes and tsunamis and earthquakes and wars and many other things. If these things never happened would we ever hear God speak to us? Would we ever seek Him out and wonder what's going on? We don't strain our ears long or hard enough to hear Him speak in the quiet whispers. In a day and age where noise is the norm and busyness is what keeps us going, it's hard to sit still and listen for His still, quiet voice. I mean, it's hard enough for us to sit in the presence of others and for things to be silent. There is usually a radio or TV going to keep from feeling awkward when there is no conversation. If this is the case when others are actually in our presence, how much harder is it when you can't physically see the presence of God? It is definitely difficult, but it is definitely needed. Being still before the Lord is something of this life that is not always easy to do, but it is something the He tells us to do. "Be still and know that I am God."(Psalm 46:10) We may have to die to ourself to be still before the Lord, but what is worth more than being able to hear God's quiet whispers? NOTHING! Something that I challenge myself and all of you reading this to do is to take a day, a Saturday or a day that you have no work or school, and be still before the Lord for hours. Sitting in silence and just asking Him to come speak. Don't worry about errands you may need to run and what not, they will get done. And they are not worth more than gaining more insight into who God is. Drop what you are doing and strain your ears to hear His voice. He may tell you something you need to know about Him, about yourself, about what you need to do. Great things don't happen all of the time so if you are looking for God and waiting for Him to show up in those things, you may be waiting a while. "Be still and know that I am God."