Daily Devotion – A Still, Small Voice –
1 Kings 19:9-18 – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+19%3A9-18&version=ESV

Elijah was down and understandably so. He had shown the people who the real God was. God had shown Himself to them. He had called them to repent through 3 and 1/2 years of drought. He had called the rain down according to God’s word. And now he is on the king and queen’s hit list. None of the people seemed to have cared, none of them help him. And Elijah starts to feel sorry for himself. He had become distracted so God refocused him. There is only one thing that matters – the still small voice, the word of God. The great sign that God sent on Mt. Carmel didn’t change anyone’s heart. And likely not that many people repented because of the 3 and 1/2 years of famine. There were not many believers in Israel – only 7,000 (an incredibly small number). But there were that many. Every one was a miracle. Every one had heard, had believed, had been changed by that still small voice. The world looks for big things, big numbers, and good times. But God’s church exists in weakness. It is created by a seemingly humble word and focused on the “weakness” of the cross. But from that weakness, from Christ’s ultimate humility, from that cross comes this still, small voice – “Your sins are forgiven.” That message, and that message alone makes a believer. It is that message upon which Christ builds His church, small and weak though it is. And against that message, Jezebel and Ahab and all the rulers and God-haters and unbelievers of all time could do nothing, against it, the gates of hell could not and can not prevail.

Prayer – Lord, let us find you in the stillness, the smallness, the weak-power of Your Word and Your Cross. Let it encourage us in trials. Focus our sights on it always. Let us find You were You are to be found not in the great and amazing, not in the entertaining but in Your Word and in Your Son.

In Christ
Pastor Ude