Friday, September 20, 2024

Great Expectations

 

Devotional: Great Expectations

 Topic: The Still Small Voice

 Text: 1 Kings 19: 11, But the Lord was not in it…

 Discussion:  it seems that when we walk with the Lord that we always seem to expect to do earthshaking things.  Things that make the whole world cry out,

“It is the Lord, God Almighty!”  But what we do not understand is that God is the God of all things.  From the majestic to the microscopic.  Every detail is in his hands.  Sometimes God will call us to defeat the giants and call us to withstand the great trials.  God also calls us to stand the everyday drudgery of life.  Elijah was “the Prophet” the man that out lasted the strongest, wisest most influential men of the day, the prophets of Baal. But God now called him to something simple. 

             God calls us to realize that He is in charge of all things.   The mighty things will distract our attention and cause us to stop and stare, but the small things are God’s too. 

            The business of The Lord is hard work.  But the business is not focus here.  There are things that one must do before leaving this earth.  How about a clean face, or carefully painted fingernails or even the scent of bread baking in the oven.  Just a person to sit beside or walk down the hall with can mean so much to a person who is facing life’s greatest challenge.  Can we offer that to someone?  It is evident that the small things of life make the heavy matters, doable.   How did the great prophet know that God was in the still small voice?   He understood that God reveals himself to his chosen when they stop and listen for him. 

The earthquake, wind and treacherous fire is how we would expect God to speak to us, but we must know that God is not always in them.  At times, He speaks to His own children with a gentle whisper. 

 Conclusion:  Colossians 3:23, Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.

            Make the simple things just as important as the miraculous and God may come in a gentle whisper.

HW: Find a simple but important way to serve and connect with someone you know or serve.   Send a reply of what simple way you found to connect this week.

  1 Kings 19: 9-13

And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  

1Ki 19:10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant,   broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

1Ki 19:11 The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”  Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 

1Ki 19:12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.    

1Ki 19:13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

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Great Expectations

  Devotional: Great Expectations   Topic: The Still Small Voice   Text: 1 Kings 19: 11, But the Lord was not in it…   Discussion:  it ...