and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. (1 Kings 19:12 NKJV)
What does peace and quiet look like to you? Just a few weeks ago, I enjoyed a peaceful morning in my back yard. My feet set the swing in motion. A maple tree towered above, shading me from the intense heat of the sun. We expected another steamy summer afternoon, but now a cool breeze refreshed me.
I cherished these moments I had carved out to pray that morning. I paused since I seemed to be doing all the talking. Prayer is a conversation. I can’t hear God when I’m gabbing. I slowed the swing. I hadn’t noticed its annoying rhythmic squeak until the back yard grew quiet, except for all the birds talking in their native languages. Then an unusual coo caught my ear.
A dove sat in the branches above me. As I listened for God to thunder some divine message from heaven, I heard a second dove answering the first one. The dove closest to me cooed. Then a dove in the neighbor’s tree replied. I got so caught up in their conversation that I had blocked the other birds out.
No booming voice came from heaven, but a still small voice spoke. Just like Elijah in our focal verse, God wasn’t in the earthquake, the fire, or the wind. God spoke in that still small voice.
The message? The Holy Spirit is symbolized as a dove. Prayer is my spirit conversing with the Holy Spirit, just like these two doves.
God can’t speak to us in the middle of busy. He also can’t speak to us in the midst of noisy, but when we slow life down, like my squeaky swing, we can hear the still small voice.
We expect God to reveal His words of wisdom to us in a sermon or at a prayer meeting. He spoke to Moses from a burning bush. He spoke to Jacob as they wrestled. He spoke to Abraham as a stranger while they ate dinner.
Have you been still to hear from the Lord recently? Is there enough quiet in your quiet time?
Those doves taught me a valuable lesson. God can be speaking, and if I don’t slow down and listen, I’ll miss what He has to say.
Don’t miss out on God. Make that time. Carve out the solitude. Your heavenly Father wants to talk to you.
Holy Spirit, I welcome You to speak to me as I wait patiently, shutting out the world to hear from You. Amen.
DIG DEEPER
HIKING THE TRAIL
According to Romans 8:27, how do we learn how to pray? What is one way you can be intentional about hearing from the Holy Spirit this week?
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Originally posted on July 26, 2021 @ 3:00 am
I learned the hard way that when we can not even hear God shouting at us over our noise He allows stuff to happen to slow our busy and quiet our noise so we can hear Him again. I now choose quiet to hear God better.
Yes, He will, and many wonder why these things happen.