Elijah's and our need to be still and listen
1 Kings 19:11-12 So He said, "Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks 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. (12) After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.
When the Lord spoke to him again He did not reply to what Elijah had said, but told Him to go and stand upon the Mount and that He would pass by before him. He said to Elijah 'I want you to go and stand outside and I will pass by and I am going to show you what I am like.' Then great and exciting things began to happen; there was a great strong wind which broke the mountains and an earthquake followed by a fire but God was not in any of them. God has revealed Himself through such things in times past in scripture, but here it says that He was not in these things. We need to be very careful that we do not always look for big events to find God. Remember God is trying to teach Elijah that even though the fire fell at Mount Carmel as a big outward demonstration of His power, yet it was not enough to actually turn the nation's heart and He wasn't in it. But what you have here is a still small voice, something really insignificant. God is trying to teach Elijah that He isn't always in the big outward things but He is in small insignificant things as well, and that is where His voice is actually heard. If you think back over your life, the times that God has actually spoken to you isn't in the big outward manifestations, it is actually in the quiet, simple small things that you hear the Lord speak.
Psalm 46:10 says 'Be still and know that I am God.' Most of the time, when there is a lot of 'hustle and bustle' going on in our lives we don't actually hear what God is saying. We have to be quiet and listen for His voice because mostly this is where we hear Him. Here He is saying to Elijah that this is the way that I actually work among the nations.
1 Kings 19:13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
We also see in this passage that none of the outward manifestations could draw Elijah out of his cave. The only thing that could bring him out was the still small voice. When Elijah heard it, he knew that it was God's voice. The outward manifestations of God; the fire, the wind and the earthquake - did not speak to Elijah but the still small voice did. When he heard it, he recognised that it was God's voice and in reverence he wrapped his head. When you think about it, the only thing that can speak to our hearts and bring us out of the caves we are hiding in is the still, small voice of God; it's the only thing that really brings us life. Many people are hiding in caves. They have fled from the will of God for different reasons. Sometimes out of fear. Sometimes out of situations that haven't gone the way they thought they should. Sometimes discouragement is a factor. There are all sorts of things that can cause people to hide from God. We can be dominated by fears and insecurities, and really need to hear that still small voice! When Elijah heard it he was able to leave the cave and come out to hear what God wanted to say to him.
God spoke to him a second time in exactly the same way as He did before, He asked 'What are you doing here?' How did Elijah respond? In exactly the same way as he had before! God is still trying to get an honest answer from him, but Elijah is so occupied with himself and his failings that he just can't see what God is trying to show him. He repeats exactly what he has already said to God; ending up with the fact that he thinks that he alone is left and they are seeking His life. So he didn't actually learn the lesson that God was teaching him; that He uses the little things to work out His purposes, and His still, small voice to reach men's hearts. However, when we get to verse 15, the Lord speaks again and says to Elijah 'Go, return.' I think that would have been quite a shock to Elijah. God did not want him to stay in the cave and He never wants any of us to either. If you have failed miserably, it is always -'Go, return.' You return, back to where you left off. Yes, you have failed, but you are never to stay in the place of defeat. It is always go, return!