The Still Small Voice
Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
The Bible says that all who are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God. So, if we profess to be children of God, then we ought to be led by the Spirit. Yet, so often we struggle to know what God’s leading us to do, especially when going through the challenging situations of life. We say, Oh God, what am I going to do? Well, He has an answer, yet we struggle to find it.
His Ways are not our Ways
Jesus said, My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me. That’s simple. But we say, Oh, if I could just hear from God about what to do. Why is that? The answer is found in this verse from Isaiah. My thoughts are not your thoughts. In other words, the Lord doesn’t think the way we do. And His ways are not our ways.
God has a different way of thinking and a different way of doing things than we do. As long as we expect Him to think like us and act like us, then we’re probably going to miss what He’s leading us to do.
So, the point being made here is that God leads according to His way and not ours. So then, what is His way? Well, let’s first look at the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal in First Kings. It says that Elijah, after he called down fire from heaven to burn a sacrifice, killed 450 prophets of Baal. You probably remember the story.
1 Kings 18:40 And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.
1 Kings 19:1 And Ahab [the king] told Jezebel [his wife] all that Elijah had done, and withal [or in addition to that] how he had slain all the prophets [of Baal] with the sword
1 Kings 19:2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
1 Kings 19:3 And when he [Elijah] saw that, he arose, and [ran] for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
Elijah had the same response we sometimes have when bad news comes. He panicked. He ran for his life. He got out of town. The man of God who had just called down the fire from heaven was now terrified and running for his life. And it says he travelled for a day or so, and prayed, Oh God, this is too much, I can’t take it, just kill me. And it says an angel came and brought him food.
1 Kings 19:8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat [that one meal] forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
1 Kings 19:9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and [God] said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
What are you doing here, Elijah? Why are you in this place? Sometimes we need to ask ourselves the same question.
1 Kings 19:10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
The truth was that the people loved him, he was a hero. The only one who wanted him dead was Jezebel.
He said, Lord, I’m a victim here. Israel has forsaken You. I tried to help, and now they want to kill me. And I’m the only prophet left. But there were actually 8,000 other prophets still left in Israel. Sometimes under pressure we perceive things inaccurately.
The Still Small Voice
1 Kings 19:11 And [the Lord] said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks 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:
1 Kings 19:12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
Why did God show Elijah these things? Possibly to make the point that if we’re focused on the big powerful and noisy things we’ll miss the real thing, the still small voice.
Did Elijah need to hear from God? Yes. He was in a bad situation. And God showed him three mighty displays of His power, but the Lord wasn’t in them.
You see, this is how we want the Lord to lead us. Give me something powerful. Show me a mighty sign, make it unmistakable, and we’ll know it’s you, Lord. But it says God wasn’t in those things. He was in the still small voice, the calm whisper.
So, the point here is that God speaks to us through a still small voice, a calm whisper. That’s how He speaks. But what’s the main problem with a still small voice? You have to be very quiet to hear it.
Now when we see the word “quiet” it doesn’t mean quiet like very low in volume. It means quiet calmness of heart and mind, tranquility of soul. It means calmness of spirit, even while the storm rages.
The Peace of God
How do we get that kind of calmness? Well, we get it by casting our cares on the Lord. Let’s look at that very quickly from the scripture, just to see how that’s done.
Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
The peace of God. That’s what we need if we’re going to hear from God. How do we get that peace? Well, it says don’t be anxious or troubled about anything, but in all things go to God in prayer and make your request.
It couldn’t be more simple. And if we do that, it says the peace of God, which is beyond our understanding, will guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Guard from what? From fear of the storm, from the anxiety and dread of the situation.
After we pray, after we make our request to God, we must refuse to have another anxious thought about it. And this is truly what spiritual warfare is all about, standing against the wiles of the devil.
We stand against fear and worry, we refuse them, we cast them down. The Bible says the weapons of our warfare cast down imaginations and bring every thought into captivity.
We’re talking about taking control of the mind. Is it possible to do that? Yes, God has certainly given us that ability as believers, otherwise He wouldn’t instruct us to do it in the scriptures.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound [or self-controlled] mind. Look it up. That's what it means. The biggest thing we fight against is a fearful spirit.
So, the third point is that we need to cast our cares to the Lord and calm ourselves down before we can hear from God. It’s nearly impossible to run scared and hear the Lord. Elijah had to change his focus and calm down before he could hear the still small voice of God.
This lesson is continued in Led by the Spirit