Elijah, the prophet before Elisha, was a man with amazing faith. One day, he just walked into the palace of the wicked King Ahab, and said it wouldn’t rain till he said it could. He also won a really cool debate with a bunch of false prophets. But, when things didn’t get better in Israel, he got very depressed. He asked God to take him. Notice that he knew it was God’s decision. We should never take that into our own hands. Things will get better eventually, if we just have faith. But, he had seen so many problems, and Ahab and his wife Jezebel wanted to kill him because God had spoken against them. So, he asked God to take him home to Heaven.
Instead, God asked Elijah to go up to a mountain and wait. Then, there was a large earthquake, thunder, and a fire. God was not in any of those. God spoke clearly, as a still, small voice to Elijah. He gave Elijah specific instructions. Elijah had faith to know that by doing what God said, things would start to get better.
That is the meaning of this passage. As we’ve said, we have the Bible, so God doesn’t talk so we can hear Him now. So, how can you apply that to your life?
A “still, small voice” nowadays comes in your heart. I won’t use “feeling” or “intuition,” because those come from us. They change over time.
That “voice” is the Holy Spirit guiding you. People say they feel led, as I did. I felt led to go back to school via seminary. That was the leading of the Spirit. I never heard an audible voice. But, I can’t say it was personal feeling, either. Things had been coming together since a couple years earlier, in fact, when I realized I might not practice law my whole life. I guess you could say that you just know it somehow.
Making a choice – like being spiritual leader of your family - is easy. Just making a choice isn’t all there is, though. For instance, once I chose to go back to school, I looked at a number of schools. I learned what schools would teach good, sound doctrine. And, which of those worked best in my situation. That led me to Tennessee Temple University. In the same way, you will need advice from pastors, other leaders, and so on. Pray about it, and God will bring the right people your way. But, you need to pray to get that leading in your heart, and for the right doors to open.
