Faint Whispers

 

This morning I came upon one exceptionally large whistle. Surely you would notice if you lost this item along the way. I wonder how loud this whistle would be if one really cut loose on it? Does it produce a high pitched note or a low pitched note? What range would it produce? A couple of houses? A block? All the way across the park? Who knows? It is one exceptionally large whistle.

When I was a little boy, I loved whistles. The louder, the better. The higher the pitch, the better. I would blow a whistle as a signal with my friends as we played out in the woods. When we pretended to be police officers, you had to know your way around a whistle. And, of course, when you wanted to annoy your siblings, nothing quite compared to a sneak whistle attack or to pulling out the whistle as they tried to read or do homework. Whistles are your friend. Their sound cuts through all other sounds and rings clear.

Sometimes I wish all messages in my life were as clear and distinct as a whistle. The needs of those closest to me. The ways I might truly be of help to someone experiencing a crisis. The voice of God in my life.

In 1 Kings we have the marvelous story of Elijah the Prophet. Like us, he could be a strong and powerful person of the Spirit, or he could be a hot mess. Like us, circumstances changed his view of himself, of his life, of God. He, too, struggled to hear God. At a particularly low point, God teaches Elijah a lesson about hearing God’s voice.

“And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke 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. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Important messages don’t always come with the loud blast of a whistle, no matter how hard we wish that to be the case. They often come with no fanfare at all. Sometimes we hear what we need to hear after the racket of our life has died down so that the faintest whisper might be heard. Those faintest whispers often speak powerful words; words of love and comfort and blessing. Sometimes a faint whisper can be the very voice of God.

Peace.