His Word
Snow is probably one of my favorite things. Some of us have spent enough time in the snow that we know first hand that it creates a quietness as it falls. It hushes the world around us and brings things to a still. As it falls, you can almost hear that hush. In a crazy world that stays divided because of sin, we need a hush—something that will calm us and bring us into the presence of God.
Just the other day I thought that I would get to experience my beloved snow, and that it would bring that much needed hush. I was driving down highway 60 when I saw a flake falling in front of my car. It rode the wind perfectly, as the white fluff glanced off my windshield. I was FILLED with hope. Then, as one would understand when living in the poultry capital of the world, I saw the origin of the fluff. It wasn’t from the skies that taunted me with hopes of that peaceful hush that only snow can bring. No, it was a chicken feather, ripped from the empty cages of a transfer truck that barreled down the highway, having just come from the Fieldale Farms plant in Murrayville.
The snow turned out to be a floating chicken feather from this truck!
“He went into a cave there and spent the night. All of a sudden the Lord spoke to him, “Why are you here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been absolutely loyal to the Lord, the sovereign God, even though the Israelites have abandoned the agreement they made with you, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and now they want to take my life.” The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord. Look, the Lord is ready to pass by.” A very powerful wind went before the Lord, digging into the mountain and causing landslides, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the windstorm 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. After the fire, there was a soft whisper. When Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his robe and went out and stood at the entrance to the cave. All of a sudden a voice asked him, “Why are you here, Elijah?”” —1 Kings 19:9-13 NET
What God wanted to say to Elijah had nothing to do with the miraculous. The word of the Lord was “enough”; a gentle whisper from God is all that was needed. Elijah didn’t need powerful wind, an earthquake, or a fire in order to hear a life-saving word from the Lord. God spoke in the stillness, in the quiet, in a gentle whisper. Elijah needed to be in a place where he could hear; where he could hear the Lord speaking.
Many of us are taunted by certain conditions, techniques, or even tools in order to hear or experience God. But God has already given His word. He has put it out there to be “heard”—whether read and taken in or listened to and accepted in the heart. The Lord speaks quite simply.
Seeking the hush (like I wanted to do) can become an idol in our lives. We want God to speak a certain way so we look for Him in certain things. Churches today sin in their offering of studies, spaces, and situations that provide something other than reliance upon God and His word. The Lord is speaking simply, gently in order for us to hear easily and with clarity. The problem comes when we don’t want to accept His method or message. Heretics (those who believe and practice beliefs apart from the truth) are crafty and enticing in their offering of things that seek to change God’s ordained means or offer alternative methods that seek to make a more accommodating message available.
What is needed today in order to hear God speak, in order to receive the word He has for us—our next move, direction, or even the peace He wants to usher into our lives—is a reliance upon His word, the Scriptures. If we want to know the Lord, then we need to know Him through the way He desires to be known. He has given His word that we may know Him, hear Him, and love Him the way He wants.
I encourage you today to submit to the divine whisper, not the worldly whim. God is speaking loudly through the gentle and simple word as He has already given. And know that there is a fresh word for you through the eternal word He has worked so hard to provide.
“”Indeed, my plans are not like your plans, and my deeds are not like your deeds, for just as the sky is higher than the earth, so my deeds are superior to your deeds and my plans superior to your plans. The rain and snow fall from the sky and do not return, but instead water the earth and make it produce and yield crops, and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat. In the same way, the promise that I make does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. No, it is realized as I desire and is fulfilled as I intend.”” —Isaiah 55:8-11 NET
—Pastor Whit
Read more inspirational messages regarding faith by checking out past Whitt’s End articles.