1 Kings 19: 1-13
It was just a few weeks ago, while riding to work, a song played on the radio. I was singing along silently bobbing my head, and I noticed that my husband was tapping with his hands but differently from the way I was. Being a singer, I was hearing the words, being a drummer, he was tapping to the beat, but he was also hearing the breaks in the music that the other instruments made because his head would tilt this way and that. And his facial expressions indicated that he could hear things that I didn’t. I tried to hear what he was hearing, but I just couldn’t. I asked him to help me hear what he was hearing. He began to hum and tap out the rhythm and make the sound of the guitar and keyboard, and the bass and drums. Once he pointed it out, I became aware of all the instrumentation and nuances in that song. It was a familiar song, but that day, I heard it more clearly.
Why Couldn’t I Hear It Before?
I was trying to figure out why couldn’t I hear it before? That is when this thought came to me. I have to know the song well, and I have to tune in to the whole composition because it is not just the words that make a song. It’s the instrumentation and the musicians who understand the message in the song. My mind then began to think about sound. Once I said the word sound, it clearly came to me that there is a sound of heaven. It’s the sound created by God who uses it to message you and to message me.
Scientifically speaking, there are types of sounds the human ear can detect. The higher frequency sounds above 25 hertz or cycles per second is called ultrasound. It’s used in medicine to crush kidney stones, to view a growing baby in the womb, to heal damaged tissues. Ultrasound is used in weapons that can collapse a building.
Then there are low frequency tones or infrasonic sound which measure about 20-0 hertz or cycles per second. This infrasonic sound is the frequency range used in monitoring earthquakes, charting rock and petroleum formations below the earth, and also in ballistocardiography or the study of the heart. Doctors use infrasonic sound to trace how the blood pumps our heart and through these repetitive motions can detect abnormalities. Seismologists us the infrasonic low tones to detect volcanoes, avalanches, and earthquakes. Because infrasound has the ability to get around obstacles with little dissipation. Simply meaning this… The sound that leaves the original source is carried through the wavelengths, the sound is transmitted bouncing back without being impeded. In other words this infrasonic frequency allows the sound to reverse, but the pressure or the power of the wave remains the same. Nothing is lost in translation!
Sometimes God Uses Infrasonic Sound to Speak to His People
God sometimes uses infrasonic sound to speak to His people. He wants us to experience the pressure of the sound as it was disseminated from Him. The word whisper in Hebrew means A Tiny Silent Sound. God speaks in infrasonic sound in our dreams, through promptings, when we pray, or even in opportunities. But we must be tuned in to God or we might miss the message.
The Prophet Elijah found himself in circumstances that called for him to tune in. There was a sound from heaven that he needed to face his situation.
As was read in the scripture, when Ahab reported to Jezebel everything that the Prophet Elijah had done, including the massacre of the false prophets of Baal, she became enraged and sent message to Elijah and threatened that by the same time the next day she was going to get even with him and he would be dead.
This truth I do know, the people of God are always under attack by those who hate God. And unfortunately, we are disliked by those who are in church as well. If we can think that we are in good with unbelievers, just bring up anything about God and your name will be mud and they will try to ruin your name, your position or your reputation. In the church if we are trying to live our best for Christ, we are told we are too holy. It doesn’t take all of that.
Elijah became so afraid, that he ran for his life. I have to admit that sometimes, we do get nervous when people try to destroy us. Sometimes we forget that no weapon formed against us will prosper. Elijah’s mind must have been filled with visions of what Jezebel was going to do to him, so he ran far south of Judah to the Beersheba.
He ran so far and so long that at a certain distance, he left his servant and ran further into the desert. The came to a bush and collapsed in the shade and was so exhausted that he wanted to die. He prayed, Lord, I have had enough, just take my life!
Have You Ever Felt Like Elijah?
Have you ever been there? The pain of your illness was so excruciating you wanted to die. The betrayal of your spouse cut so deep, that death entered your mine. The bills were surmountable, the collection agency was hounding you, and sleepless nights were constant, death seemed like a viable option. I know some people who have lived through such devastating pain some, physical and some psychological and death seemed liked it was the best way out.
The Prophet Elijah exhausted from fear and despair fell asleep. An angel shook him and woke him up. Told him to get up and eat. A meal of baked bread was there with a jug of cool water. He ate and fell back to sleep. The angel came back and told him to wake up and eat some more because he needed his strength for the journey ahead.
God Sends Angels
Just when we are ready to throw in the towel, God has a way of sending an angel! It might be a parent who comes to you saying, “My son says that you are crying a lot during the school day”. You tell her your husband decided he didn’t want to be married any more. She nods and says, I understand, But, my son is in your class and he needs you. You have got to pull yourself together for your students who are counting on you.
Your angel could be the bank who calls and says, you don’t have to worry about anything because there is a program which you qualify.
Your angel could be the doctor who calls and says, “we have a good news, your cancer is treatable. “
Your angel could be the person who smiles, hugs, or calls you just when you are about to go into a depression
Angels come, because they bring a sound from heaven that can’t even match the degree of the threat. They are God’s preemptive strike! God is about to deliver and he wants you to hold on a little while longer!
After the Prophet Elijah nourished himself he walked forty days and nights all the way to the mountain of God. He crawled into a cave and went to sleep.
Elijah Heard A Sound
Then he heard a sound from heaven, he heard God talking to him. They have a conversation, and the God told him to go stand on the mountain. While there a hurricane like wind ripped through the mountain and shattered the rock, But GOD was not in the wind. After the winds came an earthquake came, but God was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake, a roaring fire , but God was not in the roaring fire, and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper came at which time the Prophet Elijah covered his because he discerns that God was in the whisper.
Saints of God today’s message was to remind us that God does not always come to us the same way, so we can’t think that how he dealt with us the last time be the only way we will accept He chooses to deal with us.
Sound is one way that he communicates to us. Sometimes he needs to shout and scream to get our attention. Especially if we are so wrap up in our own concerns that we neglect the things of God. Sometimes it is through challenging pain or circumstances to remind us that none of those things hinder Him from being God. But sometimes he uses the infrasound a of whisper to be sure that what you heard is what He said.
God, who on that same mountain used fire and smoke with Moses is now whispering in a still small voice to His servant Elijah. In that small voice he was able to quiet is spirit and give him the further instructions needed for the days ahead.
A Whisper, Why a Whisper?
· When you whisper, you use your breath without using your vocal cords for the sake of privacy.
· A whisper is intimate because you must be close to hear it. Since it’s intimate, it’s tailor made because not everyone is supposed to hear it. God whispered to the Prophet Elijah because he had to say somethings to him first to calm him and to remind him that Jezebel’s threats could not touch the man of God. God whispered to encourage him. He needed to be reminded that He was a servant of the most-high! Finally, God whispered to direct him about the things he needed to do.
There are times when God wants us to press closely into him so he can whisper a word just for us!! He wants to calm our fears, encourage our spirit, and give us the directions that we will need in the coming days.
Because sometimes the sound from heaven is a whisper…
· A Whisper can Change our mind of confusion into a mind of peace and remind us that He will keep you in perfect if your mind in stayed on Him.
· A whisper can Change our sense of defeat into a sense of victory and remind us the when God is for us, who can be against us
· A whisper can Change our carnal perspective into a Godly mindset reminding us that in God we live, we move, and we have our being!
· A whisper can Bolster our confidence, and remind us that we can do all things through Christ that Strengthens me
If we would be still and know that God is God! If we would just stop trying to hear what everyone else has to say, then we will hear the sound of heaven that will deliver, heal, and set free!
· Because no threat can ever match the sound of heaven!!!
Quotes About Listening to God
“The word ‘listen’ contains the same letters as the word ‘silent.'” ~ Alfred Brendel
“Listening to God is far more important than giving Him your ideas.” ~ Frank Laubach
“God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.” ~ Mother Teresa
“Are you learning to say things after listening to God, or are you saying things and trying to make God’s word fit in?” ~ Oswald Chambers
“Every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message.” ~ Malcolm Muggeridge
“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” ~ Winston Churchill
We must tune into the infrasonic sound, so we don’t miss the sound of heaven. Turn off the television, the radio, the cell phone, and even your own voice. Be still and be open so that you can hear the sound from heaven. Hear the whisper of God in the silence of your heart, mind, and soul, and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that no threat can match the sound of Heaven..
