MichelleBentham
I’m thinking tonight about the power of a whisper. Rumors spread like wildfire on a whipser – the quiet murmurings of words close enough in proximity that you can feel the breath of one person’s words on the ear of another. Barely audible, but the weight it carries is POWERFUL. A Whisper.
1 Kings 19:11-12 (AMP)
” And He said, Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire [a sound of gentle stillness and] a still, small voice. “
Did you know God whispers? He doesn’t try to get your attention by yelling or high drama of any fashion. He speaks in the stillness, in the quietness of a moment when a gentle thought that is much smarter than you are is deposited in your head. A whisper – a gentle nudging in a new direction, toward someone or something magnificent that God is waiting to unveil for you. Are you listening…? He is whispering.
Bill Hybels spoke at Gateway Church tonight. He brought an insightful, funny and powerful word about how God used a whisper to derail his plans to become a successful business man in his father’s company only to turn the world upside down with Willowcreek Community Church and open the floodgates of heaven to pour out blessings on him beyond number – all by the power of a whisper. Allow the Lord to whisper and awaken the desires of your heart anew. Allow His heartbeat to flood your own… And tap out a new rhythm, a new song that He is teaching you to sing.
He shared a story from his second grade class tonight. His teacher had just shared a story with his class about how God had whispered to Samuel as a young boy and Samuel heeded his voice. He went to the teacher after the class and asked, “Do you think God still whipsers to young boys?”
She gave him a poem written on a small slip of paper that read:
O give me Samuel’s ear,
The open ear, O Lord,
Alive and quick to hear
Each whisper of Thy Word,
Like him to answer at Thy call,
And to obey Thee first of all.
There’s power in God’s whisper. Are. You. Listening?
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YES! The Lord has a powerful whisper. I have my own story on that.
A year or two after being born again, I went to a geek seminar to listen to a reknowned software architect…his name was Grady Booch. He was my hero. He was doing some very important research in documenting and designing software architectures in order that they might become re-usable across various industries. In the cracks of my career outside my normal project tasks, I had been working independently on the same concepts! I understood how to do it and how beneficial it would be to businesses. It was my passion!
I had been formulating plans to do what he was doing…become a consultant and work on these re-use architectures and pitch the concepts to companies across the various industries. I knew that I could make a lot of money on more of a part time basis, and also that people would pay attention to me because I was a woman and there weren’t any other women doing this type of work. I also knew by this time that I wanted to do ministry but I thought I could finance my ministry by doing this consulting stuff. What could be more perfect!
When I left the geek seminar, I was flying high and excited about where I was going. I thought I had the perfect plan.
I was alone in the car driving home when I heard the whisper.
“Forget about that. You’re not doing that”. It was soft and still, but I heard it…clearly.
“What?” I said aloud in the car.
I heard it again.
“All that stuff you heard him talking about…you’re not doing that.”
I began to get agitated. I felt a little bit panicked. I told myself I must not have heard correctly. My mind was racing about how perfect that plan was and how well suited I was to carry it out. I was already plotting my professional strategy. I told myself again I must not have heard correctly.
I heard it again.
“Forget that. The plans I have for you will be way better than that.”
Way better. That’s what He said. And He gave no indication of what those plans were. I was stunned and didn’t speak to the Lord for the rest of the way home.
So that was it. I knew what I heard and Who I had heard from. I mourned the loss of my dream for about 3 days. But I laid it down.
The most interesting part of this story is that I had to wait almost 7 years for Him to give me any inkling of what those plans were. I didn’t waste the time in between, I kept reading and studying the Bible, praying and attending church, trying to grow in faith while I waited for God’s plans for me to be revealed. I knew something was coming and I wanted to be ready.
Re-usable software architectures are pretty cool but they are nothing like being in the middle of a healing for cancer. That’s way better. This blog too! I’m finally coming into my purpose. I know it. It’s way better.
Glad I listened to that powerful whisper and obeyed.