Wait for the Whisper

“After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” ~ 1 Kings 19:11-12

If you were to ask the people who really know me to describe me using three distinct words, “gentle” would not be one of them. In school I was the loud kid, always making people laugh.  The teacher comments on almost every report card accurately reflected my personality – “Excellent student – talks too much.”  Every day when I got home from school I started in right away on my homework so that I would have time to change into my play clothes and roll around in the grass with my dog.  There were no princess dresses or tea parties, I was pretty rough and tumble.

Not much has changed in thirty-something years.  Sarcastic, talking when I should be listening, powering through to get things done instead of sitting in consideration, that’s all me.  And none of it screams “gentle,” primarily because by my own actions and in my own strength that’s exactly what I do.  I try to scream gentleness.  I go about it the completely wrong way. Like Elijah standing on the mountain looking for the presence of God, I seem to be more comfortable in the chaos.  I tend to keep my focus on the wind and the earthquake and the fire, powering through and calling out loudly to the Lord that I need Him.

But the Fruit of the Spirit – God’s gift of gentleness – comes in the gentle whisper…so gentle that I often miss it.  He wants me to know that I don’t have to scream for Him to hear me.  What is so amazing about God is that He waits for us to be still.  He invites us to keep our eyes looking heavenward, to quiet our hearts and to wait for the whisper. While we run around getting caught up in the noise of this world, He waits to lead us to gentleness so that we can be nourished by it and learn how to bless others with the fullness of this gift.