“After the earthquake came a fire, but The Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”  I Kings 19:12

After his encounter with Jezebel, Elijah, the prophet, was stressed out, to say the least. He said to the Lord, “I have had enough, Lord, Take my life…”  - I Kings 19:4  In his depression he found himself sitting under a juniper tree where an angel came to him and provided bread and water. After he was strengthened, he traveled for 40 days and came to a cave at Mt. Horeb.  He was at this point still running, but God was able to ask him a searching question, “Why are you here Elijah?” His spiritual life in shambles; Elijah answered God’s question by telling God all about his failures and disappointments. Elijah was in a state of depression.

God told Elijah to come out of the cave and stand before Him. The Lord had a better solution for him than hiding in a cave.  The Lord revealed himself to Elijah in four ways:
1.  A rock shattering wind
2.  A dreadful earthquake
3.  A sudden fire
4.  A still small voice

The Lord was not in any of the first three spectacular events.  It was only in the still small voice that Elijah immediately recognized God. “When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.”                                                                                                                - I Kings 19:13 At this point God was able to talk with him.

When we are stressed out by the pressures of life, we may lose our focus and recognize that our spiritual life is in a shambles.  We recite our litany of troubles over and over to our friends and to God. When God tries to speak to us, we are so focused on our own stuff that He can’t get through. We are busy rehashing our numerous problems or looking for Him in all the wrong places.

God taught Elijah that He was not the things where people search.  When the still, small voice came, Elijah knew immediately that it was God. When we quiet our spirits long enough, we will hear God speak to us. God brought Elijah out of the cave and out of his depression. He can do the same for you today. Trust Him. Are you close enough to the Lord that you can hear the whisper?