Today’s author is Prince of Peace member and Music Director, Milt Warkentien.
For some reason when I think of the “Still, Small, Voice” text, I flip the first two words around; that’s why my song is called “A Small, Still, Voice.”
What do you hear when you read this passage? Elijah is told to go and wait for the Lord to pass by. The Lord wasn’t in the wind, earthquake, or fire; the Lord was in a still, small voice. Do you wait for the Lord expecting power, majesty, glory, etc, or do you wait for the Lord in quiet, reflection and prayer? Maybe it’s a bit of both. This Bible passage reminds me that I might see/hear God in the bumblebee searching for nectar, in an incredible moon rise over Lake Superior, or a National Youth Gathering filled with excitement and noise.
In order to see/hear God I need to be open to the world around me. I need to make an effort to be aware of all the ways God is alive in my life. Some days God might be a major event, but other days God might be that still, small, voice that we’d miss if we weren’t listening for it.
Do you find it interesting in this passage that God asks Elijah what he was doing in the cave, as if God didn’t already know? Do you find that God often asks you the same question “What are you doing here?” What are we doing here? Are we serving God? Are we listening for God’s voice? Are we turning away from what God is asking us to do? WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?????
In my song “A Small, Still, Voice” I end in celebration. I’ve had a few people question why I end it this way, as this text can easily be read as not a celebration; but for me, if I’ve truly heard God in the Small, Still, Voice, it’s a reason to celebrate because I have a chance to know what I’m doing here. How many times in a day, month, year, lifetime, do we feel lost, uninspired, depressed, etc? I feel that if I’ve heard God, it’s a reason to celebrate. I know that what God might be calling me to do may be out of my comfort zone and that I might resist, but if I’ve truly heard God’s small, still, voice, I at least have the chance to be a servant for God.
Today may we all celebrate that we’ve taken the time to listen for God’s small, still, voice. Today may we all celebrate that we’ve taken the chance to be God’s beacon of light in a darkened world. My prayer for you today is you celebrate God in your life and Let Your Light Shine Bright.
The following recording is the band leading my song during worship this past Sunday. We also used This Little Light of Mine, as the closing hymn, if you’d like to listen to that, too.
May God Bless,
Milt