Do you ever have
those times where it seems like life is screaming for your attention?
Like the annoying child that you can hear in the next isle at the
grocery store. Screaming at the top of his lungs, calling people "doo
doo heads", throwing a tantrum because his mom won't buy
him the "triple chocolate, frosted, marshmallow laden,
honey bunches of sugar comma puffs", that he just has to have or
he will die... because the cartoon slug on TV says that
kids love them... (As you can tell... I have had a bad experience at
the grocery store lately with stupid children). However the idea
remains; life can feel sometimes like it's an annoying child...
constantly bellowing in your ear everything it demands, forcing
that you pay attention to it, entertain it, feed it, and wipe it's
snotty little booger infested nose... (ya, I will work through my
anger issues with children... seriously, when I am a dad,
that behaviour will not be allowed). I digress from my rant
of the child to get on with this post...
Like this child,
life can get exceedingly loud, the pressures of the world,
the fears, the bills, the temptations, the expectations, the work
load, the ongoing distractions that take our attention away from our
intimacy with God. Away from the ways in which He has shown up in the
past, the ways that He is currently working in our lives. All we can
hear is the unbroken snivelling of our circumstances. The temper tantrums in our spirit...
I think that we all go through this from time to time. It reminds me of the account of the Prophet Elijah that we read about in 1 Kings. He had just come from an experience of seeing God manifest His power in an amazing way, by winning in the "Battle of the God's" on Mount Carmel, against the prophets of Baal. God presented himself in a big way. There were "fire works" and everything. (1 Kings 18). Yet, even after this our buddy Elijah is overcome with fear of being killed and flees to mountains. He runs like a dog with his tail between his legs... unable to cope with the thought of being killed. He begged that God would take his life because he was at the end of his rope. He wished that everything would just go away. It was in this retreat that he made his way to Mount Sinai, (The mountain of God). He found a small cave and set up camp. This is where God once again manifests Himself... in a big way.
I think that we all go through this from time to time. It reminds me of the account of the Prophet Elijah that we read about in 1 Kings. He had just come from an experience of seeing God manifest His power in an amazing way, by winning in the "Battle of the God's" on Mount Carmel, against the prophets of Baal. God presented himself in a big way. There were "fire works" and everything. (1 Kings 18). Yet, even after this our buddy Elijah is overcome with fear of being killed and flees to mountains. He runs like a dog with his tail between his legs... unable to cope with the thought of being killed. He begged that God would take his life because he was at the end of his rope. He wished that everything would just go away. It was in this retreat that he made his way to Mount Sinai, (The mountain of God). He found a small cave and set up camp. This is where God once again manifests Himself... in a big way.
1 Kings 19: 9-12
(NLT)
There he came to a
cave, where he spent the night.
But
the LORD said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”Elijah
replied, “I have zealously served the LORD God Almighty. But the
people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your
altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one
left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.” “Go
out and stand before me on the mountain,” the LORD told him. And as
Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit
the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn
loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an
earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the
earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And
after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.
"A gentle whisper". Other translations say: "Still small voice". These words alone bring a hush to my spirit. There was Wind, Earthquakes and Fire falling from the sky... yet, God chose to reveal himself, not in these big ways. Not in the noise... but besides the noise. He spoke in a still small voice. I leave you with these final thoughts. When Elijah was overwhelmed by everything around him, He retreated to the presence of God. It was in the Presence of God that He found that the LORD did not speak to him through the chaos of the all that was happening around him. He revealed himself in the quite. In the stillness. In the waiting on His voice. Just as Jesus calms the storm in the New Testament. He is the peace that passes all understanding. Our God is a God who longs to have you retreat to Him, abide in Him, bring your chaos to Him, and to hear his still small voice within your turmoil. I pray that you find comfort in His voice. Find comfort in His presence and allow the noise of life to be focused instead on His voice. And beware of the bratty kids at the grocery store...
