Being Attentive to God’s Call
So, I was reading 1 Kings 19 and I was reminded of how listening for God’s voice isn’t always clear. I mean Elijah is sat there and he manages to pick up God’s voice out of the whisper. That’s hard enough to do regardless of what had just happened to him. See we’ve just had the amazing feat of God’s spirit on Mount Carmel, God staking his presence in all the views of the prophets of Baal, the impact was emphatic. Following this was the apparition of a cloud on the horizon. The importance of this is the drought that we see Elijah announce in the first verse of Chapter 17,
“As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” So, then we reach this point, he should be riding the biggest spiritual high of all time, right? Except Jezebel the wife of Ahab and the reason that those worshiping Baal had grown so much has made a threat on Elijah’s life, so Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”
How many times do we get lost in the hustle and bustle of life? Just head down ploughing our way through. Ignoring God’s call and just running, even when his life was threatened, he stayed close to God and followed where he called him.
But as Elijah was attentive to God’s call, we’ve seen he’s caught onto where his voice was. I couldn’t even begin to fathom how many times I’ve made the mistake of looking for God in the fire or earthquake and completely missed the whisper all together. Elijah was at one of his lowest yet stayed faithful in his pursuit of God.
Prayer points this week-
- That we will stick close to God’s voice in everyday life.
- That we will be attentive to God’s call.
- That we will be emboldened by the holy spirit to step out where God calls us.
Written by Josh Bennett, Intern for Swindon Youth for Christ