Turn Off the Radio - Part 2

Intro:
Do you like the pace we run at? Do you ever wish for a place where you can be still and unbothered? We get so distracted by busyness that we can miss the voice of God. There is such a need for quiet places were we can slow down.

Consider the words from a friend’s song, “Slow Me Down”


First thoughts in the morning as I’m waking up
“I’ve got a lot to do in just one day”
First step out the door and I'm all fouled up
I haven’t taken time to stop and pray

Slow me down
I need to know that You are in control
Slow me down
I want your peace deep within my soul

Rushing to the next appointment on my list
I miss a lot of You along the way
Worried and frustrated about the plans I’ve missed
Time keeps running faster everyday

Slow me down
I need to know that You are in control
Slow me down
I want your peace deep within my soul

Coming home exhausted and I’m all wound up
I’m glad I’ve gotten through another day
Finally lay down and pull the covers up
But I’m having trouble hearing what You say

Slow me down
I need to know that You are in control
Slow me down
I want your peace deep within my soul

Those are good words. Maybe if you come by sometime I will play it for you.

Read: 1 Kings 19:8-13
8 Elijah arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the Mount of God. 9He came there to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10He said, “I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
11He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before Yahweh.”
Behold, Yahweh passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before Yahweh; but Yahweh was not in the wind. After the wind an earthquake; but Yahweh was not in the earthquake. 12After the earthquake a fire passed; but Yahweh was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 13It was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. Behold, a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Think:
Elijah is running for his life. His archenemy has announced his doom and he feels the pressure. So, he is running. Do you feel any pressure from work, home, neighborhood, church, friends? Does the pressure of life make you slow down or speed up?

Elijah is confronted by God for his lack of faith. Maybe if he had taken time to slow down and listen he might have found the strength to stand the pressure.

Notice how God finally confronts Elijah ….. with a whisper (v.12). A “still small voice”. Hmmmm, that’s going to be hard to hear if I am running a fast, noisy pace! Bring on the mountain tearing winds (v.11) and thunderous earthquakes (v.11) and roaring fires (v.12) …. we like that stuff. We get that. Feels like the movies we watch on the weekends! But still small voices we do not have time for. Too much to do. Too much pressure. Too much noise. Too much time.

Do:
Are you aware that God is a person that wants know you? How do you get to know someone? Slow down, listen, time to get to know them. Will you slow down today? Have you quietly surrendered your pressures to God yet?

Will you take our challenge to turn off the radio this week? Let’s try to slow down and see if we don’t run into a God that wants us to know Him.

Have a God-revealing week.