The Still Small Voice

One of the great stories in the Old Testament is of Elijah, weary from "power ministry" and afraid for his life in the face of the wrath of Jezebel, he flees to the desert and hides in a cave.
An interesting interview ensues (my paraphrase from 1 Kings 19):
"What are you doing here, Elijah?"

"I've been killing myself working for you.  But all I can see is the enemy winning by wiping out all of your servants.  I think I'm the only one left!"

Of course we know that God calls him to get out of the "cave of depression" and stand before Him. And even though he sees tornado, earthquake and firestorm, he realizes that God is not speaking through them.  Instead, God's voice comes through the gentle breeze--His quiet whisper.

The interview then repeats itself word-for-word.  Why?

I think that Elijah's first response was in the form of a whimper, a whine, a complaint.  Woe is me!

When our focus is on ourselves, we can't really hear God's answer.  We're just complaining.

But the storms of life are meant to get our attention off of ourselves so that we begin to really listen to God's answer.

That's when we realize that He was speaking to us all along.  We heard it, but we didn't really "hear" it.  That is, the words registered, but we didn't really take in the meaning.

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear" (Mk. 4: 9).

Do you want God to speak to you?  He probably already is.  Shift your focus from yourself to Him.  He still speaks in a quiet whisper.