Have you ever wanted to have a relationship with God like the kind of relationship you have with your spouse or your close friends? Have you ever wanted to hear and know the voice of God? Have you ever wanted to see God the way the prophets and disciples say Him? I ask these questions because I have always longed for this. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to walk and talk with God and hear his voice. A couple of days ago, this desire was ever pressing on my heart, and I stopped and asked God how this could be a reality. I wanted to have a relationship with Him like the prophets in the Old Testament had with Him. He showed me a revelation I knew but didn’t pay close enough attention to.
I became interested in the prophet Elijah in the Book of Kings. He has always been a figure in the Bible that has stuck out to me because of how he walked and talked with God. After all, Elijah never died. He was taken from this earth on a flaming chariot to heaven. However, his life on earth was not an easy one. King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, both of whom were beyond wicked, chased him and wanted him dead.
God told Elijah to present himself before King Ahab and call him out for his misdealings. He even called out the prophets of Baal, the false god of the Cannonites. Queen Jezebel was the one who persuaded King Ahab to worship Baal and follow after him. For as long as Jezebel reigned, her goal was to rid the earth of the prophets of the One true God. However, God used Elijah to put Queen Jezebel and the prophets of Baal to shame. Elijah challenged King Ahab to a “god” duel per se. He told Ahab to gather all of the prophets of Baal, some 450, at the top of Mount Carmel. They would build two altars there, one to Baal and the other to YHWH. Elijah proclaimed in front of the assembly that whoever’s God would light the altar on fire is the One true God.
Elijah encouraged the prophets of Baal to go first. As tradition would have it, the prophets of Baal danced around the altar and cried out to Baal for him to hear them and light the altar on fire. This went on for some time, and after a while, even Elijah decided to jeer the prophets by telling them to speak louder because “maybe Baal was too busy or couldn’t hear them.” As the prophets kept dancing and shouting out to Baal, they eventually started cutting themselves with swords to get Baal’s attention. Finally, the prophets of Baal were too tired to continue, and Elijah took his turn.
“Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again” (1 Kings 18:36-37).
When Elijah finished his prayer, the fire of the Lord fell and burned up everything. It burned the offering, the wood, the stones, and even the water in the trench. When the people witnessed this, they fell to the ground and proclaimed YHWH as God! Elijah then told the people to seize all the prophets of Baal and kill them. When Ahab returned to Jezebel, he told her what Elijah had done. Queen Jezebel sent messengers to Elijah saying, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of the prophets you killed” (1 Kings 19:2). At this, Elijah ran for his life.
At this point, you are probably wondering why I would ever want to have a relationship with God like the prophets of old. To put it simply, because of what happened next with Elijah. As Elijah fled, He found himself asking God to end his life. He felt alone and afraid. Elijah found himself under a bush and fell asleep. An angel touched him on the shoulder and told him to eat. Twice this happened, and the angel told Elijah that the journey he was about to embark on was “too much” for him. He then got up and traveled for forty days. He eventually found himself on Mount Horeb. He found a cave and spent the night inside. The Book of Kings says:
“And the word of the Lord came to him: ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He replied, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with a sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me.’ The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. 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. After the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” (1 Kings 19:9b-13).
God spoke with Elijah. He talked to him in a whisper. This is a lesson that many of us have forgotten – God doesn’t speak in the loud and crazy. The Lord speaks in whispers. The Prince of this world has done a phenomenal job of distracting us with noise that we no longer hear the whisper of God. We are constantly surrounded by noise, distractions, and chaos that we no longer know how to hear or even know the voice of the Lord. To know God, we must learn to be still. We must remove the distractions that the Devil has placed in our life to keep us from hearing YHWH’s voice. This is why scripture says, “Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because He has roused himself from His holy dwelling” (Zechariah 2:13).
Fast forward some 900 years, and the Lord left His glory and throne in heaven to walk and live among His creation. He came to die so that He might reunite with His creation and have a deeper relationship with all of humanity. While He was here, He chose twelve men to be his disciples. One disciple, in particular, had such great zeal for the Messiah that he would often open his mouth and put his foot in it. However, he walked closely with Christ. So closely, that during a wild storm, he called out to Jesus from the boat to walk out on the water and meet with Him. Jesus told him to “Come,” and he threw his feet over the side of the boat, placed them on the water’s surface, and stood up as if he was standing on solid ground. He kept his eyes on Jesus for the first few steps as he made his way toward the Messiah. However, the waves and the chaos of the sea grabbed his attention, and he became afraid. It was then that he started to sink into the water. He cried out to Jesus saying, “Lord, save me!” Matthew records the incident and writes, “Immediately, Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ He said, ‘Why did you doubt?’” (Matthew 14:31).
Many times in my life, I have seen myself in Peter. I have such zeal for Christ, but I sink and lose out on opportunities due to fear and distractions. More than anything, I want to live, breathe, and act in such faith that I can see and hear the Lord. I want it more than life itself. Some might say, “See, this proves there is no God, and you are wasting your time.” The only response I have to that is – There is a God. He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. He was before all things, and without Him, nothing was made that has been made. He is the one true King, the savior of the world, and there is no other like Him. He is very much real. I do not see Him or hear Him because I have failed to seek Him. I have allowed the father of lies to entice me to think I am at a loss. I have let the father of deception distract me with the ways of this world that I have forgotten how to be still and listen to the whisper in which He speaks. Just because I can’t hear or see Him doesn’t mean he doesn’t exist. It means that I am to blame for my failure of not being able to see and hear Him.
I want a relationship with my Creator like Elijah, Peter, Paul, and the Apostle John did. I want to hear Him, see Him, feel Him, and know that I am standing in His presence. I want it with every fiber of my being. YWHW said, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). For too long, I have neglected giving Jesus ALL of my heart. This is why I have failed in my search for Him. He has always been there, but my heart has been distracted by every little breeze. For too long I have allowed the things of this world to capture parts of my heart. I say, “ENOUGH!” Enough with allowing the father of lies to keep me from giving ALL of my heart to my King! Enough with being enticed by every little whim that comes my way! Enough with the distractions that so easily entangle me!
Written by Dr. Kristopher Wallaert
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Christian Grandfather Magazine
Featured Image by FETHI BOUHAOUCHINE from Pixabay
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