God is still Speaking
By Debbonnaire Kovacs 1 Kings 19:11-12a: So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire…
Most of the sermons say God doesn’t speak in the whirlwind or the earthquake or the fire, but in a “still small voice” (KJV; literally “a sound of gentle blowing”). But…that’s not always true. Sometimes God is in the thunder and wind and lightning and fire. Here are just a few examples.
Job 37:2-5: “Listen closely to the thunder of His voice, and the rumbling that goes out from His mouth. Under the whole heaven He lets it loose, and His lightning to the ends of the earth. After it, a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice, and He does not restrain the lightnings when His voice is heard. God thunders with His voice wondrously, doing great things which we cannot comprehend.
Job 38:1-3: Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you, and you instruct Me!”
John 12:29: So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.”
Rev. 11:19: And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
Deut. 5:24: You said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives.’
Heb. 12:29 (quoting Deut. 4:24): Our God is a consuming fire.
The fact is, God is still speaking. Perhaps, as time draws to a close, God is speaking more urgently than ever. And God will speak to you in a voice you will hear and to me in a voice I will hear.
I have to admit, I’d rather hear this way:
1 Kings 19:12b-13: …and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Isaiah 30:20a-21: He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.
John 20:16: Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
And I’ll turn, as she did, and cry out and cling to him as she did.
But…if I don’t, then I trust God will shout if necessary!
Shhh…listen…is God speaking to you right now?
[All Bible texts NASB.]
Debbonnaire Kovacs is a speaker and the author of 28 books and over 700 stories and articles for adults and children. To learn more about her work or ask her to speak at your organization, visit www.debbonnaire.com.
