Turning Down the Volume to Hear Better

1 Kings chapter 19, we're going to start in verse

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention

9 this morning. I preach from 1 Kings 18 and

19 a lot. If you guys make notes in your Bible

of what date I preach a sermon on, you've probably

got a lot of dots by this particular passage.

It's a passage that I have to turn to a lot.

And maybe that's an indictment on me. Maybe that

just speaks to my weakness. But nevertheless,

I find myself having to turn to this a lot. And

maybe it's good for you too. I don't know. Maybe

you don't struggle in the same way as I do. But

it's a good passage. And you've probably heard

me preach it ten times. And if I'm here for a

little bit longer, you probably will hear me

preach it some more. 1 Kings chapter 19, we'll

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention

start in verse 9, but before we do, let's pray

and we'll get started. God, we come to you today

and we still got a little sadness in our hearts,

but dear Lord, we just thank you for being good

to us, for blessing us with a good pianist for

all these years. We thank you for our heart of

service and dedication, and we just thank you

that we got to worship today with her. One more

time, and we thank you for these words. I pray

that you just free us of all the distractions

and the worries and the stresses and the pains

of this world, and that in these moments, dear

Lord, that you just would help the world to become

silent to us, that we would be able to listen

to you and to hear from you, dear Lord, that,

God, there's a lot of noise in our life, but

I pray that in the midst of the noise that we

do not, miss you, dear Lord, that in the many

mighty and powerful ways in which we see you

work, that we don't forget to stop and listen

to you, dear Lord. So I pray, God, that your

Holy Spirit would be with us today, that you

would help me to preach and teach in a way that

brings glory and honor to you. And I ask these

things in Jesus' name. Amen. I'll give you a

little backdrop of what's kind of leading up

to this story. Good story. I would encourage

you to read it if you've never read this story

of Elijah. He's going up against all these false

prophets of Baal. There's 450 of them, and they're

worshiping this false god. And Elijah, the prophet

of God, challenges them and says, Look, one of

our gods is the real God, and we've got to figure

out who this is. And so he challenges them both

to make an altar. to put a sacrifice on that

altar, and they're both to pray to their God

and see which God responds. Now, the prophets

of Baal, they hoot and holler and dance around

and all kind of stuff, and nothing happens. Of

course, their God's not a real God, and so there's

no surprise that there's no response there. Elijah

is not surprised by that, and he kind of pokes

at him and prods at him and says, oh, you know,

maybe you need to holler out a little louder.

Maybe your God's asleep. the god of these false

prophets doesn't answer and of course elijah

calls on the lord the only god and and his altar

is lit up with flames and and uh it's a miraculous

thing and the false prophets are killed and elijah

just saw this awesome and and mighty thing that

the lord had done but but right after that we

flip the page and we see that elijah is running

for his life because King Ahab and Queen Jezebel

have sent word that they want Elijah to die.

They want him dead. Now Elijah is a mighty prophet

of God. We see Elijah mentioned in the New Testament.

We see that he's pretty important. He's pretty

prominent. And Elijah had just experienced this

great work of God. He was a man of God. And now

things have gotten really tough. And so he goes

on the run. He flees for his life. He runs into

the wilderness, and he sits under a tree, and

he says, God, take my life. He says, God, I'm

ready to just give up. I'm ready to die. I'm

ready to be done. It's too hard. I'm just tired

of it. And maybe some of us can relate to that

feeling. Elijah felt alone. He felt afraid. We

see both of those words applied to Elijah throughout

this passage, throughout this story. And even

though he'd experienced the greatness of God

in a mighty way, in a super powerful way, even

Elijah, the great prophet of God, found himself

ready to give up, ready to leave this world.

And God didn't grant his request. And maybe if

we're honest, maybe that's been our request,

some of us from time to time. Maybe there's been

things in our life that have been so hard and

so painful that maybe our request has just been,

God, I'm ready. Would you just take me, dear

Lord? I don't want the struggle. I don't want

the pain. God, I've lived for you and life is

still hard or this thing I'm going through is

so tough. Lord, would you just take me from this

world? And people pray that prayer. Maybe some

of us have prayed that prayer. But God didn't

grant that request. He wasn't quite through with

Elijah yet. And instead of taking him out of

this world, he ministered to Elijah. He sent

some food and some water to him, and he told

him to rest up. And that happened a couple of

times that the Lord provided what Elijah needed.

It was said to Elijah, you need to eat, you need

to drink, and you need to be ready for the journey

that's ahead of you. Elijah went on this pretty

long journey and he ended up at this mountain

and he was hanging out in a cave. And that's

what we see in the passage today. In 1 Kings

1 Kings 19:9

chapter 19, verse 9, it says, He entered a cave

there and spent the night. Then the word of the

Lord came to him and he said to him, What are

you doing here, Elijah? He replied, I've been

very zealous for the Lord God of hosts. But the

Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn

down your altars, and killed your prophets with

the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking

to take my life. Then he said, Go out and stand

on the mountain in the Lord's presence. At that

moment, the Lord passed by. A great and mighty

wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering

cliffs before the Lord. But the Lord was not

in the wind. And after the wind there was an

earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake.

After the earthquake there was a fire. But the

Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire

there was a voice. A soft. Some of your translations

there will say a still, small voice. Now Elijah

knew of the Lord. He had experienced the power

of the Lord. He was a faithful servant of the

Lord. But here in his deepest hour of just conflict

and pain, The Lord speaks to him and says, what

are you doing here, Elijah? And Elijah says,

God, I can't do it anymore. I'm alone. I alone

am left. Your people have turned against you.

My life is in jeopardy. And then after Elijah

makes this statement, we see God express himself

in some powerful ways, in a powerful wind that

rocks the cliffs. And an earthquake that shakes

everything. And a fire in whatever form that

took and what it looked like. I don't know what

that would have looked like. But we see God in

all of these mighty ways working. And we see

that all throughout the Old Testament. We see

God do some pretty dramatic things. I mean, the

parting of the Red Sea and just ground opening

up and swallowing people who had been disobedient

to the Lord. we see some pretty incredible, powerful

ways in which God shows his awesomeness throughout

the scripture. And I believe God still acts in

those ways today. I believe God is still just

as powerful today. I believe that we see the

power and the awe of God today in our world.

And sometimes through events that we encounter

are really, really... hard things in our life

that shake us up. I think still today the Lord,

He makes a little racket sometimes in our life.

He does things to show us His power and to shake

us up and to grab our attention so that we see

that God is still there. He's still in control.

He's still paying attention. And sometimes He's

maybe not happy with us. And I think we still

see the power of God today. But what's beautiful

about this passage is that Even though we see

the power of God here before Elijah, how does

it say that the Lord spoke to Elijah? In a still,

small voice. In a soft whisper. Have you ever

talked in a conversation with somebody that doesn't

talk very loud? It's hard to hear them. When

somebody's speaking lowly, to be able to hear

them, you really have to Listen intently. Maybe

that's part of the reason why the Lord spoke

to Elijah in this way. I don't know. He could

have done something dramatic before Elijah and

spoken a loud and booming voice as sometimes

he does in the Old Testament. But maybe he spoke

in a still, small voice so that Elijah would

really pay attention and listen to what the Lord

had to say. What about you and I? Do we listen

to what the Lord has to say to us? You know,

if you take the same letters that are in the

word listen and you scramble them all around,

they also spell the word silent. And sometimes

to be able to hear the Lord speak, we need to

sit in the silence. That's hard for us to do

in this day and age. Man, it's hard to sit in

silence. We have such a short attention span.

We've always got music playing or earbuds in

our ear or a phone in our pocket that's vibrating

or ringing. And there's a lot of noise in our

world today. There's Wi -Fi airwaves going through

the air and phone airwaves and satellites all

around. And it's just noise. And I believe that

that's a great tactic that the devil uses today.

To keep us from hearing from God. It's not to

say that we don't see God work in mighty ways

some ways. That gets people's attention in this

world. But maybe today the Lord wants to speak

to you. Maybe he's been trying to get your attention

for the last few weeks or few months or few years.

And maybe today the Lord is speaking to you in

a still small voice. And the reason you haven't

heard him. It's because you haven't stopped to

listen. Maybe today you're like Elijah and you're

on the run. Maybe today you are depressed and

you are sad and you are afraid and you feel alone

and you don't know why God doesn't hear you and

you've called out to him. But I want to tell

you today, God has heard you. But maybe, just

maybe, we've been too busy to hear God. Do you

ever take a moment to just unplug? Do you ever

take a moment to turn the TV off, to turn the

radio off? Do you ever take a moment, perhaps

just to take a walk in nature? What a beautiful

place to hear from the Lord, to go out and see

creation, to get away from the hustle and the

bustle, to take your phone out of your pocket,

and to just go and just to sit in silence. And

that is a hard thing to do. You probably have

to pray about that a lot. Because, man, you go

and you try to sit in silence, and that lasts

all of about seven seconds. And then you're thinking

about, I've got to do this thing at work. I've

got to do this thing at church. I've got to do

this thing. I've got this thing going on with

my family. I feel bad. I mean, I'm hungry. Man,

I want a snack. I should have ate breakfast this

morning. I mean, you're going to have a million

things. The moment you start to sit in silence,

there are going to be so many things that are

going to compete for your attention. And you

may have to pray a lot. You may have to pray

a lot because even if there's silence around

you, your mind still is probably full of a lot

of noise. And so it may just take us taking a

moment. We may just have to take a moment. And

you say, you have preached this exact sermon

five times. I probably have. But I keep going

back to it because I'm so weak that I have to

be reminded to take a moment. And I think maybe

there are some others that do. I don't know.

I know life is busy. I know for some of you it's

way busier than it is for me. I know a lot of

you got a lot on your plate. And it's hard when

you're raising kids and you got responsibilities

at work and you got sickness in your family and

you got life and it's just hard. And sometimes

we just, I think, need to be like Elijah and

just call out to the Lord and say, okay, God,

I don't know if I can keep going any further.

But it's so beautiful that the Lord does not

make Elijah go further without taking care of

him. Before even this whole experience, he provides

what he needs to strengthen him for the journey

that's ahead of him. I don't know what journey's

ahead of you. You don't know what journey's ahead

of you. None of us know what tomorrow holds.

But whatever it is, I can promise you this. You

can't make the next step in that journey if you

don't have the power of the Lord. Life is hard.

It's hard. And it's really hard when you don't

have God. There's a lot of people that say, oh,

yeah, but you need God. That's just a crutch.

Okay, well, maybe He is. What's your crutch?

We all need hope in something. We all need someone

to hold us up. God is the one that I choose to

hold me up because God is the only one who can.

And some of you know that firsthand. Some of

you say, man, I've tried everything else to lift

me up and to hold me up and to strengthen me,

and it fails me every time. And some of you still

need to learn that today, that there is nothing

else that can hold you up. But there is a rock

that is Jesus Christ that can hold us up, that

will not crumble if we would just seek him today.

And so maybe the Lord wants to speak to you today.

Maybe He wants to speak some grace and some love

and some peace into your life. Now I'm not saying

the Lord's going to speak to you in an audible

voice. He may. I don't know. I know people that

would say that God has spoken to them and I believe

them. I've never heard God speak to me in an

audible voice. But I believe that we can hear

God speak. And I think we know when the Spirit

of God is among us. I think we know when God

is working on us. But sometimes I think we don't

hear God. Because we won't stop and listen to

Him. Psalm 46 .10 says, Be still and know that

I am God. Some of your translations may say something

like, Stop your fighting. And know that I am

God. Whatever it is that's going on in your life.

Maybe there's conflict and there's fighting and

there's feuding. Maybe it's sickness. Maybe it's

just stress. Whatever the struggle is that keeps

us going. That keeps us on our toes. That keeps

us anxious. Maybe today is a good day for you

to just simply be still. To seek the Lord. Maybe

today you're Elijah. And you say, I don't want

to go another step. I don't know if I can. You

can with the help of the Lord. So I encourage

you today. I encourage you this week. Would you

take a minute to sit in the silence? Would you

take a minute to sit in God's word? Would you

take a minute just to listen? to what god has

to say now i'll warn you we don't always like

what god has to say because sometimes we say

okay god i'm really struggling right now i need

some help with this or some help with that god

help me and sometimes we open our heart up to

god and god begins to reveal things to us that

are there and we kind of know they're there but

we we don't want to admit it and as god begins

to speak sometimes he begins to speak to things

in our life that that we'd rather not hear, but

I'm going to tell you what is the most beautiful

thing when we listen to God and He works in our

life and there's stuff in our heart that shouldn't

be there and we just give it to Him. It's a beautiful

thing. So today I encourage you. Take a moment.

Sit in silence. Listen to the Lord. Let Him do

a work. In your life. I can tell you that the

Lord wants to do a work in your life. Because

he sent his son Jesus Christ to die on a cross

so that you could be forgiven. So that you would

have an opportunity for peace. That peace only

comes through Jesus who was crucified and resurrected.

That is the source of our hope and our peace

today. And so when we call out to the Lord today.

We can know that he hears us. But do we hear

him? And maybe today he's speaking. Maybe he

wants to speak to you through his word. Maybe

you've already heard him speaking and you just

haven't been listening. Well, today's a good

day to sit and to listen to the Lord and to seek

the peace and the hope that comes through Jesus

Christ. Let's pray. God, we come to you today.

We thank you for your... Your good word. And

maybe there are some in this room or some listening

online that they feel like Elijah today, dear

Lord. Maybe their journey has been tough and

maybe they know you and they've experienced you.

Maybe they've seen your mighty works. But maybe

today they just need to hear from you in some

way, dear Lord. I pray that you would help us

to take a moment out of our life. and maybe in

the days to come that we would just carve out

a little time that we would be still and know

that you are God, dear Lord, that we have to

be mindful of that. We have to perhaps remind

ourselves of your goodness and your mercy and

your grace and your strength because we do get

busy, dear Lord. Life is hard. But I pray, God,

that these scriptures today would be a reminder

to us. Just to take a minute to praise you, to

rejoice in you, dear Lord, to thank you for who

you are. God, I pray that if there are some that

don't know Jesus Christ today, if they've been

looking for peace and hope, they might have been

looking all over this world for it. I pray today

through these words that they would find it.

That today that they would just take a moment

to say, I'm tired of running. I'm tired, dear

Lord. And God, just as you provided for Elijah,

I pray that in their heart and soul today that

you would just meet their need, God. That you

would give them the strength and the sustenance

they need spiritually just to be filled, God.

I pray, dear Lord, that you would help us to

be able to hear you clearly. That you would block

out all the junk. We all got it. But don't let

the enemy... Mess with our mind and mess with

our heart right now. Just let us take a moment,

dear Lord, in these last few minutes to seek

you and to hear from you. In Jesus' name I pray

it. Amen.