Elijah has just had an incredible victory. He called down fire from heaven and defeated the prophets of Baal. Now he's hiding in a cave, depressed and afraid. God tells him to go stand on the mountain, and a great wind comes - so strong it tears rocks apart. But God isn't in the wind. Then an earthquake shakes the mountain. But God isn't there either. Then fire. But God isn't in the fire.
After all the dramatic moments, God comes in a gentle whisper. And in that whisper, He restores Elijah's purpose. Elijah had been running on the high of the miraculous victory, and when the bottom fell out, he fell apart. But God's presence wasn't dependent on the dramatic. It wasn't dependent on victory or vindication. It was there in the whisper.
I grew up in a charismatic church tradition where we looked for God in the spectacular. Big miracles, healing services, prophetic words, mountaintop experiences. When I went through a depression, I was waiting for God to show up in some dramatic way. But He showed up in the gentle discipline of a therapist, in conversations with friends, in the boring practice of taking medicine and showing up to church even when I felt nothing. The whisper. After the wind and earthquake and fire of my crisis had passed, I realized God had been present all along in the quiet things. That's the part of Elijah's story that saved my faith.
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