Verse of the Day 7/7

1 Kings 19:11-12 Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but theLord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lordwas not in the earthquake; ¹² and after the earthquake a fire, but theLord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.   New King James Version (NKJV)

For the last few days we've been considering the voice of God and how He speaks, communicates with us.  I love the depiction in these verses as God calls, speaks to Elijah.  The Message (below) provides excellent imagery,  hurricane force winds, earthquakes and fire create quite a commotion.  But the voice of God was not in the commotion, but was conveyed in a "still small voice".  Other translations say a "gentle voice", a "low whisper" while another says "the sound of sheer silence".  That last one intrigued me.  Have you ever been in a situation where everything else was blocked out and all you could here was silence?  That is often how and when He speaks, when all else is blocked out and you can focus your attention on how God speaks in the sheer silence,the gentle whisper.

A.W. Tozer  breaks it down and relates it to worship as it was some 50 years ago.  It would be even more fitting today when he writes, ""The accent in the Church today," says Leonard Ravenhill, the English evangelist, "is not on devotion, but on commotion." Religious extroversion has been carried to such an extreme in evangelical circles that hardly anyone has the desire, to say nothing of the courage, to question the soundness of it. Externalism has taken over. God now speaks by the wind and the earthquake only; the still small voice can be heard no more. The whole religious machine has become a noisemaker. The adolescent taste which loves the loud horn and the thundering exhaust has gotten into the activities of modern Christians. The old question, "What is the chief end of man?" is now answered, "To dash about the world and add to the din thereof."...

I enjoy praise bands and modernized hymns and I must admit that I like a lot about the modern, contemporary services.  But they must not replace, they cannot replace devotions, devotional time spent in His Word and prayer, blocking out everything else to give ourselves time to allow God's word to speak to us.  A praise song or modernized  hymn may touch us, but it should not be a passing moment, it should be carried over to that personal time with the Lord.  This needs to be encouraged.

The last thing I'll touch on is Tozer's last statement above, "to dash around the world and add to the din thereof".  Many of us travel over the country and even the world, dashing back and forth on business or possibly vacation.  There is plenty of "din" to go around.  May we make it a point not  to add to the din but be devoted to God, to hear His voice and to do His will, whatever it is.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

1 Kings 19:11-12The Message (MSG)

^11-12 Then he was told, "Go, stand on the mountain at attention beforeGod. God will pass by."

A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn't to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn't in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn't in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.