Waiting to Hear God
Laura Digan
June 22, 2025
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1 Kings 19:1-15a (NIVUK)
19 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, ‘May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.’
3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’ 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.
All at once an angel touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat.’ 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.’ 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he travelled for forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.
And the word of the Lord came to him: ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’
10 He replied, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.’
11 The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’
14 He replied, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.’
15a The Lord said to him, ‘Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus.
For many of us, the hardest time in our relationship with God is when he doesn’t answer our prayers, or doesn’t seem to be answering our prayers. When it feels like God is very far away, we can’t hear his voice and he doesn’t seem to be listening to us. Others are being blessed by his presence while we are stuck in limbo, in a cave. You ask yourself where is God in all of this? Has he withdrawn his blessing from me?
That cave is a lonely place to be.
In that cave it can be hard to keep faithful, to have patience.
But it is in that cave that our relationship with God can grow, can strengthen, can transform if we just sit and wait. We might not be able to hear or feel God but we can keep seeking him. Persevering though we doubt. Keeping steadfast in prayer, in reading his word. Taking ourselves to the mouth of the cave as we wait for the Lord to pass by again.
Prayer:
All powerful mighty God,
Who comes in hollers and in whispers.
Give me patience
As I wait
For you
Amen
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