Friday From Frank
Best Whisper Ever
Good Morning Gentle Folks,
Whisper sounds as it behaves. One rarely yells, “I want you to whisper.”
The word itself lends to being subdued and quiet. The “wh” start with the “sper” at the end has been a staple of librarians through the centuries.
If you Google whisper and look at what follows, don’t hit enter you will see one of the options is whisper of the heart.
On the other end of the spectrum there is whisper jet which makes about as much sense as the tallest midget. They prefer dwarf now, by the way.
The Horse Whisperer became popular and hence other people began to copy it with all sorts of whisperers. On the other hand, I have yet to see a guy whisperer. There may not be much hope.
Think about the times you whispered.
Maybe you were telling a joke that shouldn’t be told in public, so you whispered.
Maybe you had a juicy bit of truth, one would never gossip, so a whisper was the best way to spread the delightful delicacy of detail.
Maybe a little romance?
Where you letting someone know something that you didn’t want anyone to know?
Want to know, without a doubt, hands down, the best whisper ever?
1 Kings 19.
Elijah is having a bad day, several in fact. He thinks no one loves him, and for the most part he’s correct. The saddest part is he thinks God has left him. What does he do?
Elijah takes a little trip to the mountains.
Too bad for him God knows his travel plans. Starting in verse 9.
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?”
A gentle whisper. God showed up in a gentle whisper.
A whisper is hard to hear with a lot of noise going on.
The noise of life. If you are too busy with the hustle and bustle of life, how are you going to hear God’s voice? Maybe the Holy Spirit will help out.
Still, one needs to be still.
When is the last time you were perfectly quiet? When did you last listen to quiet?
It’s hard isn’t it?
Some of us don’t like to be left alone with our thoughts. Maybe it’s because we’re afraid we won’t have any.
Maybe because we know what will happen?
As the noise is stripped away, truth may surface, and that’s a bit daunting, to say the least.
How often do we pray then run on with our lives and never sit and wait for an answer.
Am I talking about an actual voice? Probably not.
Certainly an inclination is possible.
How God works is up to Him. I’m confident He does.
When is the last time you sat in solitude and quiet for 10 minutes.
Give it a try.
Those of you with kids at home, this is a challenge for sure. Still, make it work.
In yoga class, at least the good ones, there is a time before the practice gets moving where we sit and just breathe. That’s tough for some to do.
Find a spot. Get comfortable. Turn off the TV, radio, dish washer, whatever makes noise and be quiet.
Think about one thing. God’s love. God’s peace. BBQ. Okay, the last one may not be such a good idea.
One option: begin to envision what heaven will look like.
Use a phrase. “God, I praise you.” Reduce that to “God, praise” and let your mind delve into that phrase.
Envision a stream, a babbling brook, so to speak. Imagine the gentle tones.
Warning: Try not to envision a babbling idiot. That takes away from the goal of being quiet. Besides, that will take a lot longer than 10 minutes.
A garden. Early morning.
Any of you have a cell phone? Look at the app section. Check under meditation. This will provide a timer for you.
If you want to hear God, maybe reducing the noise level so you can hear a whisper will help.
Enjoy the ride,
Frank Myer
PS – If all goes well the book – Volume Uno (Not the Game) should be on Amazon by June 1st. God bless, Steve Luke 18:1 www.hawleybooks.com E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
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