The Story - Chapter 15

We’re not good listeners, you and I. The dominance of speaking over listening reflects our worldview:

• at meetings those who speak the most are often the ones who get their way. 
• In our families, we are drawn to either the gregarious or the dramatic. 
• And let’s not forget our political leaders: those who speak the loudest usually get the most attention. 

We have assigned great value to those who can risk “putting themselves out there” by asserting themselves through words and persuasive arguments. We prioritize the speakers over the listeners because speaking is believed to be riskier.
There’s an old saying that I like to share (and try my best to follow): "God gave us two ears and one mouth" means that we should listen twice as much as we speak. This statement is even more crucial in our lives of faith, because we can easily miss what God is saying to us if we don’t stop flapping our gums! The prophet Elijah was a great risk-taking communicator, speaking God’s truth to power. At the beginning of Chapter 15 of The Story (1 Kings 18), he had declared the God of Israel’s superiority over the prophets of Baal, which resulted in the slaughter of hundreds of these prophets.

This sets us up for today’s scene (pgs 202-207 in The Story, 1 Kings 19) where Jezebel promises to exact revenge upon Elijah. Elijah runs for his life and finds a tree to sleep under, where he then pleads for God to take his life. Here the passage shifts from understanding Elijah as a risk-taking speaker to Elijah as a risk-taking listener. The angel of the Lord tells him to “get up and eat” two separate times. Elijah listens—even though he does not know what lies ahead—and is strengthened for his next journey.

Then the word of the Lord comes to Elijah, telling him to stand on the mountain while the Lord “passes by.” A great wind surges to the point the mountains begin to break apart and rocks are splitting in half. The earth literally shakes and quakes beneath Elijah’s feet, followed by a fire. BUT ELIJAH DOESN’T COVER HIS FACE. But here is the powerful moment: Elijah only covers his face in his coat when he encounters God in the “sound of silence.” The Story recalls it this way: “And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”  
God was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. The very presence of God was in the gentle whisper Elijah encountered after the chaos. Elijah took the greatest risk not by covering his face during the chaos but by listening to God. In the midst of Elijah’s fear after encountering God through the still silence, he simply repeats what he said to God in verse 10: “I have been very passionate for the Lord . . .” This time, God responds with direct instruction: “Go.”
It wasn’t until Elijah took the risk to listen to God’s still, small voice that he knew what to do.

How many times have we been in the situation Elijah was in? When do you take the time to listen for God in the gentle whisper? Or has your life been so busy with swirling rocks and raging fires you haven’t given the Lord the opportunity to respond to your prayer? How many times have we attended to the still, small voice of God amid the chaos of our lives and come out on the other side realizing that it was worth it all along?

I invite you to pray with 1 Kings 19:11-13 (pg 207 in The Story) once a day for the rest of this week. When you get to “Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”” be bold and put your name in place of Elijah’s. Re-read it with your name, then listen to the gentle whisper of the living God who still speaks.

May we stop long enough to listen.