1Kings 19: 11-12 “‘Go out and stand before me on the mountain,’ the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake ,there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.”
Elijah needed to hear from the Lord. He was discouraged and exhausted. He was running from Jezebel. She was trying to kill him so she could carry out all the evil she wanted on the people. Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. The Lord instructed him to go out and stand before Him on the mountain. It wasn’t in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire that God revealed Himself; it was in the gentle whisper. It was in that gentle whisper Elijah received his instructions.
Katie, please don’t forget to send out your thank you notes. That was the only time I had mentioned writing out her thank you notes to friends and family. It was right after her graduation from high school and she only had a week to get those done before she left for camp. I figured she probably wouldn’t have time to get them written before she left. This would probably be something I would have to remind her to do when she returned home. Being seventeen and just graduated, she was in the throes of all the events of graduating.
So away to camp she went. Little did we know that three days later, we would receive the phone call no parent wants to get. My beautiful seventeen year old daughter would not be coming back to her earthly home. She was now in her heavenly home. What I didn’t know is that my seventeen year old daughter listened to me. Or did she listen to a gentle whisper? My guess is that those thank you notes getting sent had nothing to do with me. The day after she died each person who had given her a gift for graduation received a beautiful thank you note from her. How sweet of Jesus to place this on Katie’s heart to get them sent out. The Lord knew she wouldn’t be coming home to write those thank you notes. He knew they needed to be done before she left. She listened to that still small voice. How blessed were all who received this last act of kindness from my daughter. What comfort that brought me to hear the comments from others who received those cards.
So has the Lord been speaking gently to you to reach out to someone in need? Do you have thank you notes to send to someone who has gone out of their way to walk alongside you through difficult times? Is He asking you to offer forgiveness to someone? We often put off what we should do today and say we will do it tomorrow. Like my daughter, we never know if tomorrow will come. So today, listen to His gentle whisper. You never know how that will change someone’s day. It might even change yours.
– Michele
