1 Kings 19:11-13 Amplified Bible

¹¹ So He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by, and a great and powerful wind was tearing out the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, [there was] an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake, [there was] a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, [there was] the sound of a gentle blowing. ¹³ When Elijah heard the sound, he wrapped his face in his mantle (cloak) and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen, Amen

One of my favorite Bible stories is about Elijah the Prophet hearing God. 

1 Kings 19:11-13 says, “The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then, a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks 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 came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

It’s a descriptive account of how the great Elijah the Prophet, exhausted and depressed, expected to hear his God and then how God actually showed up.

He looks for God in the powerful winds, earthquakes, and fire.

God was not there.

Unexpectedly, he heard God speak when he quietly waited at the mouth of a cave, and after all the ear splitting noises of nature, God whispered to Elijah.

How often do I look for God to show up as a mighty storm in my life or for him to suddenly get my attention by literally rocking my world, such as we see with hurricanes, tornado’s, earthquakes and great fires on television or the internet?

At times, God absolutely does speak in those moments, and he surely is with us when our lives take sudden unexpected turns, but what about the innumerable extraordinarily ordinary moments that make up the majority of all of our lives?

Does God care about our daily routines?

Is it possible to hear him as we walk to get the mail or make lunches?

What about while cleaning the dishes or driving to work?

Does he only check in with us on Sundays when we attend church services, or does the rest of our humdrum Monday through Saturday matter to him, too? 

The Quiet Moments Can Also Be God Moments

Elijah’s story reminds us that the quiet moments can be God moments, too.

We can see God in the simplistic moments of unexpected beauty we are given.

How many times have I given thanks to God just at the sight of children running around in our simple backyard on a sunny day or my wife as she does jewelry?

I am in awe of the wonder they are able to enjoy the everyday things.

How many prayers have I lifted up while walking around the grocery store?

My heart cries out, God please help me be the husband, step father, you have called me to be! My life and all that I have invested in goes mostly unseen. 

I can attest to the fact that every word God has given me has come right in the midst of my ordinary life.

God nudged me towards my neighbor one morning as he was getting his young daughter ready for school – to openly pray for them both and reveal His glory.

During my workout routine trying to get my new heart exercised, He reminded me that all I need to do is pray, God I need you, and God will be there for me.

During a talk with a Nurse friend at church, He assured me and my new surgical heart that the new medication I needed to calm my my sugar, blood pressure and mind, the rest of my body, was an essential part of his healing plan for me.

Living in my everyday life is interrupted by God’s gentle, guiding whisper voice.

He is there in the ordinary with us, showing us his ways, teaching us his path.  

We Have Moments We Are Called to Give Without Being Seen 

Can I trust that God cares about my days, even if no one is promoting me or praising me for the efforts I make recovering and rehabbing from surgery?

The lessons I thought I taught my heart about having confidence, endurance ?

The tantrums I endured when I thought my heart was not listening as well as I thought it should have based on the number of “the more” steps I was walking?

We all are called to serve unto the Lord and not man.

We all have moments when God leads us to give without being seen. 

Jesus rebuked the religious elite for parading around when they fasted and prayed.

He wanted more than a spectacle from his followers, he wanted our hearts.

That’s why no matter if you are a CEO or a stay-at-home parent, there are definitely going to be silent moments when God calls you to give, serve, pray, love, and fast without being seen – this is when our true character shines. 

I’ll tell you from personal experience that it’s not easy to serve unconditionally.

When given the chance to do it for days, weeks, and even years on end, what you find is that your heart is not as pretty as you once hoped. 

Pride and a drive for affirmation run deep, at least it does in me.

But the lesson I’ve been learning and relearning in my home, as my heart heals, as I live stuck in all kinds of ordinary, which I used to be able to do but hesitate to do now, is that rehabbing my life is all about my obedience and not success.

Obedience to God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – not to me, myself and I, but to God be every measure and degree the highest glory, honor and the praise.

In my weakness, his strength is made perfect.

I can do all things only because the grace and strength of my Savior Jesus Christ is in me, not because I’m a capable though healing, responsible Christ follower. 

The ordinary stuff is the place, as my mom and dad often said, where our moral and ethical character is built – pebble by pebble, stone by stone, brick by brick.

It is how we rehab our sinful lives, renew our thoughts, it’s how we do the dishes – as a cheerful giver or a grumpy, resentful servant – God cares about.

Thankfully, He is gentle with us, and on the grumpy days, there is grace, but the lesson comes again the next morning.

How will be rehab our lives, renew our thoughts, get right with our Savior Jesus.

How will you do these dishes differently, more thoughtfully, today, He asks? 

The Whole of Our Days Are Exclusively for His Glory

Psalm 46:10-11 Amplified Bible

¹⁰ 
“Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth.”
¹¹ 
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold [our refuge, our high tower]. Selah.

The incomparable thing with God is that in His economy, nothing is wasted.

We are the one’s commanded by God to just “sit still” for as long as it takes.

When Abraham waited years and years to realize the promise of a son, God was using his everyday life to prepare him for what was to come.

Moses spent four decades working in the desert before God appeared to him in a bush, giving him an indescribably holy, life rehabbing, life-changing mission.

That time raising his family, shepherding Jethro’s flocks in the desert was readying him to lead the Israelites through harsh terrain in the years to come. 

We think of life as a series of high notes and low notes on a timeline, but God sees it all.

Each day we are given is a chance to learn and grow closer to our Maker.

Today, in all of your mundane ordinary day, please don’t miss His whisper.

Let fixing the coffee, making your breakfast remind you of all His faithfulness.

Drinking your Orange Juice, and eating your breakfast tells of all His provision.

Thank Him that His mercies are new every morning and each day has a definite mundane, ordinary, extraordinarily humble purpose for you in God’s Kingdom.

They all absolutely matter to him.

Don’t curse the simple moments because they are not extraordinary enough; lean in to ordinary, and you will hear that whisper of his gracious love for you.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Father God, I am humbled to realize that You have included me and my life, as part of Your plan for humanity. I realize more and more that I must decrease in every area of my life and entrust all circumstances into Your gracious hands… so that You may increase, and I may decrease. Use me, Lord, as You will, in Your wider plans and purposes, and develop in me an understanding heart and a listening ear to hear all You have to say to me. Teach me the sudden and subtle lessons that You would have me to learn and keep me looking to Jesus. This I ask in His precious name, AMEN.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen, Amen.

https://translate.google.com/