Listening to that Still Small Voice!
1 Kings 19:11-12 Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
Are People Listening?
Harvey, Irma, an earthquake in Mexico, forest fires, eclipses and potential wars are all in the news right now. Is God speaking? Yes! Are people listening? Now that is the question!
Is God judging the US?
We have many preachers who are saying that the current rash of catastrophes, both natural and man -made plus the signs in the skies point to the “last days” spoken of in Scripture. They say that if we would listen to the message of coming destruction and change our ways, God would withhold that judgment just like He did when Jonah preached to Nineveh. Jonah preached just eight words, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” He did not tell the city that there was salvation available; but when the people in the city became concerned and repented in sackcloth and ashes, the city was spared.
Is the US about to be destroyed because of the general immorality that is now part of our culture? Could we be spared if we would quit aborting babies and if people would quit “living in sin” both as heterosexuals and as homosexuals? My answer is that we are never going to find out because those changes to our culture simply are not going to happen. And frankly, those are probably not the worse sins of our culture. The hatred of many for other people that God created in His own image tops the list in my humble opinion. While these storms have brought out the best in people, we still see the inbred hatred and prejudice of many people that are out to isolate and destroy those that are different from them. When so-called believers approve such attitudes, that has got to grieve the heart of God.
Scriptures that Come to Mind when I think about how God Speaks
Romans 1 makes it clear that God does speak through creation and through conscience and through His word. It seems to me that if we won’t listen to one of these three things, we aren’t going to be persuaded by major catastrophes or even by miracles. When a rich man ended up in hell, he wanted the Lord to send Lazarus back to his brothers. He wanted them to be warned not to make the same mistake he had made. He was told, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead (Luke 16:31)." In other words, if they wouldn’t believe what was written in the word of God, they wouldn’t believe Lazarus even if he were raised from the dead.
Job reminds us that God does speak to us, but Job does not mention miracles and calamities. He says, “For God may speak in one way, or in another, Yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls upon men, While slumbering on their beds, Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction. In order to turn man from his deed, And conceal pride from man, He keeps back his soul from the Pit, And his life from perishing by the sword (Job 33:14-18).”
In the Scripture we are considering today, Elijah had slain the prophets of Baal and then had fled for his life since Jezebel wanted to kill him. He ended up on a mountain where God spoke to Him. But God didn’t speak through the fire or wind or earthquake. He spoke through a still small voice. I would like to believe that the still small voice is what we hear when we are all alone and read the Word of God and let it speak to our consciences.
Coming Judgments
We know that there is a day coming when there will be signs in the heavens, there will be famines and disease and natural disasters. God will be speaking to a world that crucified His Son. Will people listen? Some will, but many will not. We read in Revelation 9:20-21, “”But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
I believe that often calamities occur because the earth was cursed when Adam and Eve sinned. We have thorns and thistles and storms and earthquakes. We should always be open to the voice of God whether in the storm or in the quiet of the night. But frankly, I believe that when people quit listening to the still small voice of their consciences, they are not going to listen to God in the greater calamities. It is the individual that God is calling today to repent and believe. It is not nations. He will call the Jewish nation to repentance in a coming day, but that is not taking place at the present time. So instead of wondering if God is judging the US, or if God is judging the world, maybe we should ask what God is trying to say to us personally. These calamities should cause all of us to ask ourselves if we are ready for the day when we will personally meet God.
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of September 10, 2017