ELIJAH HEARD GOD IN A TINY WHISPERING SOUND

In the Old Testament reading for the 19th Sunday, we hear about Elijah hiding in a cave. He is fearing for his life and desolate, waiting for the Lord to pass by.  Read 1 Kings 19: 9a, 11-13. In this poem, we feel Elijah’s loneliness as he waits for the Lord.

IN THE BREEZE

I've traveled this life for many a year,

searching so long, so far and near,

Seeking the One Who is my friend,

the One whose friendship will not end.

I sought One Who would never be

nearly so blind as those like me, 

One to be there night and day, 

to hold my hand and lead the way.

I listened to the raging sea:

“Is that my Friend calling me?”

I thought I heard Him in the storm,

violent winds that shape and form.

It seems like I've searched everywhere

for the One Who will always care.

So long have I searched far and wide; 

“Please my Friend, why do You hide?”

I wonder will I ever find my Friend;

will my journey never end?

I sat to rest beneath some trees,

and heard Him whisp’ing in the breeze.

Although this poem does not contain all the powerful elements of nature that Elijah experienced, there is a common search for the Great One Who is passing by. Elijah was seeking the Lord because he feared for his life. He was feeling very desolate and depressed because he believed he was doomed and could not escape. He was seeking One Who was not nearly as blind as himself, the One Who was faithful and would show him the way. He wondered why the Lord Whom he had served was now hiding.

Like Elijah, we may expect to hear the Lord in the raging ocean or in a violent storm, but He is not there. Sometimes the loudness of the world just fills us with a greater need to find God’s peace. Quickly. we can become terrified as it all goes on around us, and just makes our search that much more desperate.

There comes a point when after all of the searching, and mistakenly thinking the Lord was in strong and powerful events, Elijah, like us, feels despondent. We wonders why the Lord is hiding. But in our hearts, we all plead for the Lord to show Himself to us, and we wait for Him to pass by.

Just like Elijah must have felt, we ask, “Will my journey never end?” Elijah had been on a long journey running for his life. He was exhausted, and he longed for the end. Like Elijah, we at first find the cave to be a silent refuge. Then the storm comes, but without the Lord, there is no peace or comfort. In fact, fire threatens to make the cave a trap. And then even the silence is broken as the cave is shaken by the earthquake, so there was no refuge at all. Elijah’s long wait is just like our own, full of anxiety and fear.

Then there is deafening silence after the storm, the fire, and the earthquake. We, like Elijah, have all but given up hope. But still we must wait for the Lord, because He said He was coming.

Then it seems we are almost at our last breath, and we hear the Lord in the tiny whispering sound. It is the Lord as He speaks to us tenderly and breathes His life back into us.