I may not know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future.
I may listen to a thousand tongues, but I only hear one whisper.
The Future
First Call
When Elijah fled from the evil queen Jezebel, he was one tired prophet.
Exhausted in body and soul, he figured he was a dead man. Jezebel had sworn to kill him in the next twenty-four hours, so his future looked both brief and bleak. He finally sat down under a tree in the desert and begged for God to let him die.
Instead of granting his wish, God sent an angel to strengthen him. As he journeyed on in the wilderness, he received a command to appear at Horeb, the mountain of God.
Elijah obeyed and found a cave in which to wait for God to appear. Soon a windstorm raged around the mountain, a gale so strong that rocks broke under its force. Elijah listened for the voice of God in the wind. But only noise filled his ears.
Next an earthquake rumbled through the ground. Though the earth shook beneath Elijah, no voice came to him.
After that, a fire roared on the mountain. Elijah saw the flames, but again heard nothing. God was not in the fire, either.
Then a gentle sound beckoned him from the pit in which he took refuge. He ventured to the mouth of the cave.
God was there.
In the silence, He spoke. His voice filled the void to give His weary servant fresh marching orders and renewed hope.
Today we are greeted each morning with a thousand sounds and images from our embattled world. As our earth quakes under the deafening din of its inhabitants, we await the holy hush in which we hear the one whisper for which we long – the voice of our Deliverer. He comes in the space that follows the noise and speaks life to our spent souls.
In Him alone we find rest, restoration, and redirection.
Your ears will hear a word behind you,
‘This is the way, walk in it,’
whenever you turn to the right or to the left.
Isaiah 30:31
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