A voice from the wilderness 

The word for desert or wilderness in Hebrew is midbar and this word is related to dabar which means word or speech (that I wrote about in a different blog post) https://declogblog.com/dabar/. The wilderness is a place for divine encounter where God reveals Himself. When we get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life we can hear God more clearly. 

Lately there has been a lot of voices and opinions swirling around me. Sometimes it’s disturbing and disheartening. What is going on with humanity? I know God hasn’t changed and He never will. I desperately need to hear His voice for me, in my life. What is important? Where do I focus? I need to seek silence. Quiet my mind. Let go of turbulent thoughts. Be still and know that He is God. Seek His face. God is not worried. He’s not mad. He’s not frustrated. He doesn’t agree with a lot of what’s going on in the world. He just has a different perspective. Much different. Much bigger. He doesn’t get bent out of shape or stressed out. Ever. Time is in His hands. I have to remind myself of this. In the silence of the wilderness the revelation will come. The Word from God cannot dwell except in the silence of other words. 

It’s when we are silent and stop arguing and voicing our own puny opinions (in His perspective) that we can meet God and hear Him speak to us. On a different level. On a heart to heart level. When the prophet Elijah was complaining before the Lord, God finally spoke in a “still, small voice”. The word “small” (daq) in this verse means thin, fine, crushed, pulverized, like dust (so not really “gentle” like some English translations suggest). The “sound of thin silence” was instilling a fear and an awe in Elijah. It was a solemn hush, a profound silence, a heavily pregnant pause that gave birth to new insights and possibilities. The word for still in this verse is damam (silence) and it’s related to Adam (man), adama (earth, soil, ground), dam (blood) and dema (tears). It’s when we stop arguing and get quiet before the Lord that we realize our connectedness with all of humanity and our own smallness. He is our Father. Not just mine. We’re all sons (or daughters) of Adam. We come from the same dirt. We need to weep over ourselves and our brothers in this world. The weeping comes before the whipping. Blessed are those who mourn over our current state of humanity. We are sharing the same blood, sweat and tears. The enemy always wants to sow division. But our Father lets the wheat and the weeds grow together in His mercy. Maybe there’s still time for change and repentance. So pray.