The Still Small Voice
Today’s devotional is from an article written by my son, Clark Wrather, for his church newsletter. Clark was the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma at the time. Clark was pastor at FBC Broken Bow for 12 years. He has been the pastor at First Baptist Church in Yukon, Oklahoma since July 2012. The title and Scripture were added for the devotional.
And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces 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 a still small voice. – 1 Kings 19:11-12.
When I woke up last Wednesday, I would never have dreamed my day would end at a hospital in Paris, Texas. I could not have imagined the day ending with my son, Madison, having a CAT Scan. I’m just thankful that nothing was wrong….
Boys will be boys. My oldest boy seems to have bruises on him all the time, yet he never knows how he got them. He’s only three and a half, but he loves to play rough. Evidently, Madison’s face collided with another little boy’s head. The other boy was fine, but Madison had a spectacular bruise on his cheek and around his eye and a concussion.
The doctor told us in the ER that he had seen children with less bruising than Madison have all sorts of dire problems going on inside their heads. He gave us two options. We could hospitalize him for 48 hours for observation or have a CAT Scan and leave that night if there was no bleeding inside the head. Of course, we chose the second option.
I was worried about Madison staying still for the scan. The scan started and he was nervous and did the best he could, but he kept moving around. He just could not be that still. I tried harder and harder to get him to be still but he would keep moving his head a little this way and a little that way. The radiologist was a funny guy and he saw what was happening. He keyed his mic and spoke like the voice of God, saying, “DO NOT MOOOOOOVE!!” He turned off his mic and I could see him cracking up behind the glass. I was struggling fiercely to keep a straight face. Madison kept still. He did not move at all, not one finger. I’m not sure he even winked.
In life, we get advice from all sorts of people that have our best interests at heart: friends, relatives, Sunday School teachers, even pastors. Sadly, we usually ignore them. I would wager that we would heed the advice if we heard it from the voice of God. We would follow it in a minute, if it came from a booming voice in the heavens with our name written with fire in the skies.
In the Bible, God is said to speak in a “still, small voice.” I have found in my life that this “still, small voice” often speaks through other people. God speaks through Christian friends, pastors, Sunday School teachers, and other believers with whom we are in contact. If you’re waiting for the booming voice, my friend, you will probably have a long wait. God has another one He uses. He speaks through His spirit that indwells the believers you respect in your life.
Are you listening?
(Are you listening for God to speak to you? He will speak to you but only if you want to hear.)