A Still Small Voice

Part 1- Where did Elijah find his confidence? Where do we go to find ours?

Have you ever felt like you had so much going on around you and inside of you, that God’s voice seemed to be muffled? Maybe you pick up your Bible to read, but you are having trouble focusing on the words. Maybe you bow your head in prayer, but can’t find the words to say. You may be in a place like this right at this very moment that you are reading this article. It is not that you have lost your faith in God, but life is just wearing you down. You are physically and mentally tired. You know deep in your heart that He is there, whispering to you, but you are so disoriented by life, that His voice is very faint and hard to hear. You are simply at a loss. It may be grief, sickness, marital trouble, trouble with your children, problems at your job, or any number of things that could be filling your mind and causing you to lose your focus. You may feel overwhelmed, anxious, depressed or all three of these at once for one reason or another. It may be multiple things that you may be dealing with all at once. Oh have I ever been there, friends. And I’m sure I’ll be there again. During times like this, we can look at Elijah’s life and what he went through in 1 Kings 19. He was most definitely at a loss. He never lost his faith in God, but he suffered from all the same feelings that we have suffered from in our lives. But God knew Elijah’s heart…… just like He knows ours. Life is hard……..BUT GOD……

To understand the Elijah in 1 Kings 19, we have to go back and meet the Elijah of 1 Kings 17 and 18. Isn’t that how it is with us? In order to truly know the Greta Hoover of right now, you need to know the Greta Hoover of the past. Some may ask, “Why did she suddenly start a blog?” Well, you have to know what brought me up to this point to know my “why” behind what I do. Some of you who know me very well do know all the “whys” that brought me to this point in my life. The bottom line is that Jesus is my number one “why” and that is all that really matters. It is all for Him and His purpose. Our past, whether good or bad, makes us who we are, no matter what we have been through. I firmly believe that all the things that we go through in our lives mold us into who God wants us to be, that is, if we allow ourselves to be molded. I’m thankful for my past, because it has led me to right now, writing this article. My past is leading to my future……my future in continuing to allow God to use me for His purpose and ultimately my future in heaven with my Creator. I am a work in progress for sure, but all I can do is keep moving forward for God. 

How many of you have heard the saying, “You do you!”? Well, “I’ve done me”, and trust me, it doesn’t work, friends! This statement may work in sports in getting players to present their talent and give it their all in a game. My coach would say to me, “you do you, girl”. I was a basketball coach and I’m pretty sure I have said that very thing to my own players and my own children. However, in life, we cannot “do us” and make it to heaven. We have to “do our lives” the way that God wants us to do them. We have to be those “living sacrifices” that Paul tells us to be in Romans 12:1 (see earlier post from May 2). Well, Elijah had done things God’s way, no questions asked, he had done what God told him to do. And now we find him at the lowest point that any human could be at. He wanted his life to end. In 1 Kings 19:4, we read, “But he himself (Elijah) went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom (juniper) tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said ‘It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!’” What brought this great prophet of God to the point where we would ask God to take his life? Maybe some of you have been at this point in your lives. Have you ever said, “it is enough!”? If you have, you are not alone, because I have. Let’s dive in and look at Elijah’s life up until this “it is enough” point in his life.

I would like to start by looking at the confidence that Elijah seemed to exude. Where did he get that confidence? It seemed in 1 Kings 17-18 that he had the confidence to face anything. Do we know people in our lives who seem this way? They seem like they just have a natural air of confidence that is God-given. God will use people like this for His purpose if they will allow it. Friends, God will use all of us for His purpose if we will only allow Him to. God used people who were naturally confident, like Elijah, and people who were not so naturally confident, like Moses. God is so wise, isn’t He? I believe God did this so we could see that no matter what our personality is, we can be a leader and a vessel for Him in the capacity of the role God has given us in His word. 

What stands out for you about Elijah? The thing that stands out the most about Elijah for me, is the fact that no matter what God asked Him to do, he did it, without hesitation it seemed. He didn’t argue or try to bargain his way out of what God wanted him to do, like Moses did when God told him to go to Pharaoh. When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, he tried every way possible to get out of having to lead Israel out of bondage. He had no confidence in himself at that time, but with God, he sure gained confidence, didn’t he? Elijah also didn’t doubt God’s power, the way Abraham did when God told him he would have a son in his old age. Abraham’s doubt showed a lack of confidence in God. But then later, when God asked him to sacrifice His son Isaac on an altar, he had the confidence in God’s plan to go through with it, simply because God told him to. So what do we learn from Moses and Abraham? If we let Him, God will grow our confidence in ourselves as we grow in our faith in Him. Let that sink in, friends. Elijah actually reminds me quite a bit of Noah when he built the ark. He simply just did what God said for him to do. Noah followed God’s instructions on building the ark to the letter all the while being made fun of the entire time. Now that takes some natural-born confidence (1 Kings 17:1, 5, 10; 18:1-2; 19:11, 19:15-19). When natural-born, God-given confidence comes together with faith in God, that is a powerful combination!! I encourage you to read 1 Kings 17-19. Elijah’s life can teach us so much about God and how He takes care of us in every season of our lives. From our highest points to our lowest points, He is with us. It can also teach us to have confidence in God’s power to affect change in our world through us, His vessels. Elijah seemed to have so much confidence in himself just like so many seem to today. But we know that his confidence was really coming from God, just like ours does. 

We first meet Elijah in 1 Kings 17:1-6. We see God immediately telling Elijah to go see King Ahab to tell him some bad news. Evil kings don’t like bad news. How did Elijah know that the king wouldn’t kill him on the spot? Think about the confidence that it took for Elijah to go to the evil King Ahab and tell him that God said there would be no rain for years and this would cause a great famine. After this, God sent Elijah to hide from King Ahab. Next, God sent Elijah to a widow’s home, which we will discuss more in part 2. The climax of Elijah’s story starts in 1 Kings 18:1. God tells Elijah to go to King Ahab and tell him that He would send rain. Ahab responds in verse 17 with these words, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?” So we can tell that Ahab is not happy with Elijah and he blames Elijah for the drought and the famine. But then we see Elijah’s confidence come forth when he says, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals. Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” Wow!! The courage of Elijah is amazing in that statement!! Think about how much confidence He had in God to go up against the king like that. He basically said, “I’m not the problem, King Ahab, you and your evil wife are the problem.” King Ahab’s wife Jezebel had killed the prophets of the Lord. She was way more evil than the king if that was even possible. Now, what Elijah does next is one of the most powerful stories in the Bible. He challenged the prophets of Baal to a standoff between their gods and the one, true, living God. In 1 Kings 18:20-21 the Bible says, “So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to all the people, and said, ‘How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.’ But the people answered him not a word.” Why do you think that the people spoke not a word? I would say that they were afraid of what might happen to them after Jezebel had murdered God’s prophets. They didn’t have any confidence in God’s power. Elijah challenged the people of Israel to make their choice, follow God or follow an idol. Then Elijah built an altar and the prophets of Baal built an altar. What happened to the prophets of Baal’s altar? Well nothing of course. They danced and yelled to no avail. They even cut themselves to try to get their god to respond, but of course nothing happened. What happened to Elijah’s altar? Well, to make a long story short, God sent fire down to burn up Elijah’s entire altar, even the stones, plus the trench of water around it. How did the children of Israel, who had spoken not a word earlier, respond after all this happened? 1 Kings 18:39 tell us, “Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” Then Elijah instructed the people to “seize” the prophets of Baal so they couldn’t run away and then he killed all of them (1 Kings 18:40). Then the rain that God had promised came after all this happened (18:45). The confidence that Elijah shows can be parallelled with many in the Lord’s church today. We can’t perform miracles, but we can do great things with God by our side. 

In this post, I want to focus more on our confidence and trust in God and our confidence in ourselves because of God. There are so many that have this same confidence in the church today. It is so encouraging to me to see so many in the Lord’s church, both women and men, and younger and older, that have so much dedication and confidence in their abilities to work for the Lord. In their appropriate roles of course, it may be in preaching the gospel, being a youth minister, leading prayer, leading singing, teaching a class, speaking at a ladies day, launching a Bible podcast, or it could be inviting people to worship, visiting the sick, taking food to someone, sending cards of encouragement, or simply just speaking to visitors who attend from time to time. The possibilities are endless. Everyone has talents. It is so wonderful when members of the Lord’s church listen to that “still small voice” of God. That voice is what gives us the confidence to step out of our comfort zone and be His vessel. Why? Because we allow it!! It is not miraculous, though it may feel that way at times. We allow His word to penetrate our hearts to want to be a better servant to Him. How do we hear that “still small voice”? How do we allow Him to mold us? We hear it when we are truly in His word. We hear it when we put Bible study first in our priorities. We don’t hear it any other way. Because we have Bible study as our top priority each day, we have His word hidden in our hearts so that we can meditate on it throughout our day. Psalms 119:11 says, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” I want this to be me, friends. I want to have confidence in my abilities that I use for God’s purpose, whatever they are. Why? Because God gave them to me. I just bet that God has given all of us talents and abilities we haven’t even discovered yet, that can be used for His purpose. To be honest about myself, I have only recently started allowing God to truly use me as a vessel for Him. I pray every day for Him to use me in whatever capacity He needs me, within my role as a woman in the church, of course. It’s been a bumpy ride for me spiritually. And I am not there yet. We don’t ever get there. We have to keep reaching upward for God until our last breath. On the outside I have always looked fine, but on the inside I haven’t been. I wasn’t allowing God to give me the confidence I needed because I wasn’t in his word and I wasn’t praying the way that I needed to. But God has gotten me here where I am at right now, and He will take me further and further if I allow Him to. If we have complete trust in God and allow Him to use us for His purpose, then we will gain confidence in ourselves and in our abilities. This can be in anything we do!! We can bring glory to God and be God’s vessel in every aspect of our lives. This goes for any age group. Just remember, no matter what age you are, whether you’re 15, 18, 24, 52, or 80, it is never too early or too late to start being God’s vessel and letting Him use you for His purpose. If you are a member of the Lord’s church, you have a special purpose in His kingdom. You just have to step out of your box and resolve to do it. I ask myself, “am I listening to the “still small voice” of God? Is His word hidden in my heart so that I can have the confidence I need to be a vessel for Him? Ask yourself those questions. God needs us all. We are this world’s only hope. Let’s remember Romans 10:14-15, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” How will people who have never been taught the truth ever learn the truth without someone helping them to understand? Ladies, we can’t preach in a pulpit at a worship service. That is definitely not our role. God has said that plainly in His word. But as women, we are so important to God’s purpose of teaching other women the gospel, encouraging women who are younger than us in their Christian walk, loving our husbands by being supportive of and submissive to them, nurturing and loving our children, teaching the children in Sunday school, and these are only a few things. It is really endless…. the things we can do for His purpose ladies. Here is a challenge for myself and for you, “How can I do more for God and others? How can God use me?”. I give that challenge to say this, I need my sisters in Christ every day of my life to help me remain strong. We need each other. And let’s all encourage and support each other in the work that we do so that we can show a united and loving front to the world.

In closing, I’m sure Elijah was on top of the world in that moment that God defeated the prophets of Baal through him. But let’s go back to the statement from the first paragraph of this article in 1 Kings 19:4 where he asked God to take his life. He says, “It is enough!” Can you just hear him? He goes from the highest point in his life to the lowest point in the span of about 24 hours. In part two of this series, we will look at what brought Elijah to his lowest point and how God responds to him in that moment. I hope everyone has a wonderful Lord’s Day and a great week!! Dig into your Bible this week!! You’ll be glad you did. Thank you so much for reading!!

God’s Plan of Salvation

If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)