“Then He said [to Elijah], ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the LORD’s presence.’ At that moment, the LORD passed by. A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and shattering cliffs 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, there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire.” 1 Kings 19: 9-13
I don’t like to wait.
You probably don’t either.
To be fair, it’s not all our fault, right? Part of our hatred of waiting involves the culture we were born and raised. Everyone, everywhere, and in everything, is constantly looking for a more efficient way to do whatever it is they’re trying to do. We want faster wait times at the airport. We want traffic solutions. We need people to answer our emails or text messages quickly so that we can move on to the next task.
This is problematic for Christians because, in a culture that’s bent on eliminating the need to wait, we are the people who believe (supposedly) in things that we cannot see. That isn’t readily apparent – yet. To be a Christian means to be someone who waits for things to come, whether we like it or not.
In the text above, the prophet Elijah had made an enemy of the wicked Queen Jezebel. Under threat of his life, God’s man fled out to the wilderness.
I’ve always read this text and implicitly thought about it in a series of moments – as if this mighty wind that shattered the cliffs was about 10 seconds long. Then the earthquake came and went. And then the fire raged through, and when it was all said and done, Elijah had endured about 10 minutes of catastrophes. But that’s not what the text says. Instead, it says that “at that moment, the LORD passed by,” and that’s it. That’s the last indication of the time we have.
Now, we don’t know if these events lasted for two minutes or two weeks. Perhaps they weren’t quick experiences for the prophet. Instead, perhaps he had days and days of enduring the big and the mighty and the disastrous, only to find a gentle whisper at the other end.
And then he heard the voice of the Lord.
“And after the fire, there was a voice, a soft whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.” 1 Kings 19:12b-13a
Can it really be that hearing the voice of God is not a ready-made formula that happens quickly? Instead, is it about a commitment to persevere through what threatens us? Is it because we are so hungry for His Word to come that we are willing to wait?
And if that is so, then perhaps we have not heard the Word of the Lord not only because our lives are too loud for this gentle whisper but because we have not waited for it to come as if it’s the very bread of our souls that sustains us.
If you want to hear the Lord speak, you can’t be impatient. You might have to wade your way through wind, an earthquake, and fire. And know that these things might take a while. A long while. But this I know to be true – His Word is on the other side, and it always brings life.
Take the time to wait in faith for God to speak to you through what He has already spoken in His Word.
Written by Michael Kelley, Guest Contributor
To read more of Michael’s writing, check out his daily blog, “Forward Progress.” http://michaelkelley.co/
