A Still Small...Beep

Picture of Ellie just for cuteness

 As I was preparing my beagle's breakfast this morning, I had left the refrigerator door open. 

Our refrigerator has an alarm if the door is left open for more than a minute or so.  Thankfully, this is not an obnoxious type of alarm, such as the one in car when you forget to fasten your seat belt.  This alarm is very soft, just a barely perceptible "beep, beep, beep".

I realized just how soft this alarm was when I walked away to set Ellie's food down.  I didn't hear the beeping, but as I walked back closer to the refrigerator I heard it again.  I realized that I had to be close to the refrigerator to hear the alarm.

Immediately, I thought of the story of Elijah:

 "And He (the Lord) said, 'Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.' And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord as 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 a still, small voice.  And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave." (1 Kings 19: 11-13). 

Sometimes we all wish for the Lord to make His will known to us through some fantastic measure, well, perhaps NOT an earthquake, or fire, but something dramatic and unmistakable.  There have likely been those occurrences, but in our lives, they are rare - if they happen at all.  Instead, the Lord chooses to work in our lives as He did that day with Elijah, by a "still, small voice."  In our lives, the voice is not even audible, but softly spoken in our spirits.

This requires two things.  First that we be still enough to hear.

"Be still, and know that I am God:  I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." (Psalm 46:10)

In this day and time being still is difficult.  Not necessarily stilling our bodies, but stilling our minds.  We will either be distracted from all that constantly blares at us from televisions and telephones, or we will be bombarded by the constant temptation of fear, fret and worry that threaten our stillness.  But to hear that still, small voice we must first "be still".

The second thing required is for us to be close enough to hear the voice.  Elijah heard the voice because he was standing where the Lord had told him to be so he could indeed hear that "still, small voice."  I had to be close enough to the refrigerator to hear the soft beeping, and when I walked further away I was no longer aware of it.  It was still beeping at me, but I couldn't hear it. The Psalmist said, "But it is good for me to draw near to God:  I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Thy works," (Psalms 73:28.)  In the New Testament, we are encouraged to "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you," (James 4:8).

So let us "draw nigh" to our Lord, let us block out all the voices that threatened to shout above all else, and let us listen, let us listen to our God communing with that "still, small voice."