JULY 12

A STILL SMALL VOICE

“And He said, go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold the Lord passed by…” (1 Kings 19:11-13)

In the beginnings of our experiences with the Lord, it is most often an outward consciousness, and we think of Him in terms of being outside us, hence with joy we sang, “Jesus is passing this way,” and we desired to “Reach out and touch the Lord as He passes by.” No consciousness of His indwelling, so we prayed for Him to pass by often.

“And a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind.” Re-action to the presence of the Lord. He passed by, and what a re-action, what a wind, it shook the place, the rocks crumbled, strong men cried like babies, there was shouting, singing, praying, re-actions to His presence everywhere, but He was not in the wind.

“And after the wind, an earthquake: but the Lord was not in the earthquake.” Were you in that meeting last night? Everybody was shaken, it was a real earthquake in these earthen vessels. All they could talk about was the quake, but this was only more re-action to His presence passing by.

“And after the earthquake, a fire; but the Lord was not in the earthquake.” In another place, at another time, in His own way God surely uses the fires, but it you always try to find God’s voice, because once you became conscious of Him that way, be careful. This time He was not in the fire, it was but another re-action that followed His presence passing by.

“And after the fire A STILL SMALL VOICE. And it was so, when Elijah heard, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave.” If you desire to develop a clearer consciousness of the Voice within, you will have to get past the wind, earthquake, and fire. Wanton eyes are never satisfied with seeing, ears never filled with hearing, but when our face is covered with the mantle, i.e., turned inward, no more distracted by the outward phenomenon, we’ll hear His still small voice.