Week 16: Whisper
Weekly Reading:
I Kings 8 - II Kings 3
Opening Prayer
Father God,
Thank you for Your grace, for loving me, and for Your strong arms around me, comforting me. Give me the power to move the little things aside so that I can see what really matters in You. Let me hear the soft whispers as You guide my heart.
Amen
Study
“Don’t you know talking about a revolution sounds like a whisper?”
From the song Talking About a Revolution by Tracy Chapman
I love Tracy Chapman and her folksy, down-home lyrics about the life and times of average people doing average things. But, her songs also talk about the essential movements of suppressed people. And they speak to how something big can start with something as small as a whisper.
A whisper is a powerful tool, and it conveys intimacy like those bedtime talks when our kids are small. They want to learn more from you, cuddle with you, and exchange I love yous.
A whisper is used by school teachers when they need attention in the classroom. Every kid stops talking when they see the teacher speaking yet cannot hear her.
There is power in a whisper.
God used a whisper when choosing to speak to Elijah.
“The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”
1 Kings 19:11-12 NIV
When God speaks, he talks to us in different ways: in the quiet of the morning with a gentle whisper, in the loving phone call from a friend with good advice, and our Bible with the perfectly timed reading of a verse that never spoke to us like it does now.
All of these times of God’s words are veiled in peace, solitude, or calm because that is when we can listen. We cannot listen in the chaos, the stress, or the clutter.
After the wind came the earthquake.
After the earthquake came the fire.
After the fire came the gentle whisper, the whisper of God.
Take time in God to listen to His gentle voice, His voice encouraging you, guiding you, leading you as He led Elijah.
Find time with God, reading your Bible, and in prayer, an empty mind for him to fill.
Just as those quiet times at bedtime with your kids are so special, so is that quiet time with God.
Closing Prayer
Father God,
Your omniscience is what keeps the world moving, nothing happens without Your hand. Father, Your whisper is so great that You can call all of nature under your command. As You do, we see the beauty all around us in the everyday: the leaves changing color, the flowers blooming. Father God, with just a whisper You have control of my heart. Guide me this week as I calm my mind to hear Your voice.
Amen
Homework
Find some quiet time, an hour if you can.
Sit with God’s creation of Spring. Breathe it in and listen to what God is telling you. It may be to sit at His feet, or return to some basics with Him.
Pray and share your fears and your hopes with God.
