THE TINY WHISPER

by Fred Vilbig

After destroying the prophets of Baal (see 1 Kings 18, a great story by the way), Jezebel, the evil queen of Israel, sought the life of Elijah the prophet. Elijah fled to Mt. Horeb. Mt. Horeb was the same mountain where God appeared to Moses and revealed His Name. When Elijah got to Mt. Horeb, he hid in a cave. God called him out of the cave, and He said that He would pass by.

As Elijah waited, a strong wind came, so strong that it “rent the mountain, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord.” But God was not in the wind.

Next came an earthquake which shook the mountain. But again, God was not in the earthquake.

After the earthquake, fire swept across the mountain. But again, God was not in the fire.

But after the fire, Elijah heard a still, small voice, a whisper. When he heard that, Elijah hid his face. He knew that God was in that whisper.

I know people who have heard the voice of Jesus or Mary. These are called locutions. I, myself, have never experienced that, but I believe that others have.

In my prayer, I experience God as a quiet Presence. You could say that I feel Him more than anything. It is a very subtle thing. Some might accuse me of making this up or projecting it, but it is such a powerful Presence which I experience sometimes at such odd times, I find it hard to think that it is something that I am imagining. It seems to originate from outside of me ... or maybe from deep within me.

We can easily drown out that Presence. Our modern society does all that it can to distract us from it with TV, radio, cell phones, iPods and iPads, billboards, and all other kinds of noise and distractions. If we want to come to know God, we need to silence all of these distractions and listen for that still, quiet voice.

If we think about it, it’s fitting that God comes to us as a still, quiet voice. God is all-powerful. He is also irresistibly attractive and beautiful. I believe that once you see God, you must either flee Him (which is hell) or be drawn irresistibly to Him. If He were to reveal Himself to us in this world, I think that our free will would be impaired if not even lost. How could anyone resist the most wonderful, perfect, and beautiful Person in all of existence who could perfectly fulfill all of our hopes, dreams, and desires? In a very real way, if He were fully to reveal Himself, we could not love Him because love must be a free response. A forced love is not a real love. So only by veiling Himself from us and revealing Himself to us in a very limited way can we freely choose to love Him. And that is really the only thing that He wants from us ... our love.

So in order to give us the freedom to love Him, He comes to us in a still, small whisper. Listen for it.