Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind[.] Job 38: 1, NKJV.
Merciful God and Father, we are listening to hear from You. Please help us to be listening for the still small voice, as well as to hear Your voice in the storm. We ask this in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Lord. Amen.
Who can understand the ways and methods of God? Who can logically understand what He does, or why He does it? He is God all by Himself. He does not have to render an account to anyone for anything. And even though there are things that He does, which we do not understand, His ways are perfect, and understandably, beyond our understanding (Job 36: 26; 37: 5).
Today in our devotional, we are going to look at two instances in which God spoke. We will be considering the experiences of the prophet Elijah, and the experience of the patriarch, Job. We will observe the circumstances under which He spoke, who He spoke to, and how He spoke. Let us first look at the experience of the prophet Elijah: ‘ “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘ “I have had enough, LORD,” ‘ he said. ‘ “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” ‘ Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep” (1 Kings 19: 3-5a, emphasis provided).
Elijah was fearful, depressed, and tired! It is a combination of feelings which usually overtakes the person who has just finished a big assignment, or accomplished some feat of extraordinary proportions, that leaves him or her feeling drained. It is like coming down from an emotional “high.” He had just descended from Mount Carmel, and now he is in a cave, in the desert! His situation is seriously complicated by a threat from the wicked queen Jezebel! She has threatened to take his life. Enduring this toxic combination of feelings, the prophet “ran for his life.” It was in this state of mind that God followed His child, and spoke to him in “a still, small, voice,” “a gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19: 12c). God will speak to us, as we are able to bear.
Job, we might say, is in a more precarious condition than Elijah, by far! He has not been threatened. He has borne the ultimate affliction, suffered the worst pain! He has lost all of his ten children in one instant; in the twinkling of an eye, after losing all of his personal possessions! There is no way that we could actually compare the two pains. They are of different intensities, caused by different circumstances. After much soul searching, and seeking to defend his integrity, against the assumptions, and accusations, of his friends; after asking for an audience with His Maker – God speaks to Job, “out of the whirlwind.” You see my friend, God will speak to us where we are; and Job is already in the storm.
God had to speak louder to Job than He did to Elijah, because the howling winds of the storm would have made it difficult for Job to hear the “still small voice,” “a gentle whisper.” What a God! But His desire is the same for all of His children, He wants to redeem us, to bring us out of our fears, and our depressions, and our storms – whole, unbroken! We have nothing to lose, and everything to gain, if we take the time to listen to God when He speaks. He will speak to you and me, where we are, and according to our needs!