Word Wednesday–I Kings

Welcome to week ELEVEN of the Word Wednesday Challenge!  If you haven’t been “playing along” with us, feel free to jump in any time.  I love to hear how God speaks to everyone (and it’s kind of funny I said that, considering this week’s topic).

I Kings 19:12b (NIV)–And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

This is one of those verses where God sort of boggles my mind.  Have you ever stopped to think about how huge God is?  Our brains will ever grasp the concept of a God who uses the world as a footstool.  I’m sure even His whisper could shatter mountains.  He’s massive, powerful, commanding (I love when Chris Tomlin calls him “untameable”).  And yet He didn’t speak in the fire or the earthquake or the wind… but in a whisper.  Ever wonder why He did that?  I’d love to ask Him someday.

I complain a lot that God doesn’t speak to me.  There are long seasons where I will swear to you He has been totally silent.  But when I come out on the other side and look back, I see His voicemails all over my life.  Maybe it was a sermon at church.  A billboard.  A friend’s phone call.  An eighties pop song.  (Okay, seriously?  Not kidding there.  He has done that to me.  More than once.)  Not too long ago, I told a friend I hadn’t heard God speak in as long as I could remember. Not long after, I was scanning my blog to look for something and realized all of the times He’d spoken.  Hm.  My memory is short.

Sometimes, God shouts at us.  He has a preacher smack you in the head with a Bible verse (or a Bible…).  He keeps popping the same phrase into your life on the radio, on TV, in a conversation, on a billboard (that’s happened to me).  He has someone come to you and say, “I was praying for you and felt like God wanted me to tell you this.”

And other times it’s not so obvious. He paints a mountainside with fall colors.  He sends the perfect song onto the radio at the perfect moment.   He’s in a memory that resurfaces.  My cousin once told me he asked God to give him “a clear sign” about whether or not he should do something… then he hit every single red light on his way to work.  Both of us firmly believe that was nothing short of G-O-D… with a sense of humor to boot.

If you think God’s not talking, look around.  My guess is He’s simply whispering.

Your turn!  Share your favorite I Kings verse in the comments or blog about it and leave us a link.  Can’t wait to hear from you!  Then go see if God is whispering your name.

-JB