I'm With You Always

“and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.”

1 Kings 19:12

When life is going the way we hope we often times don’t realize God is right there beside us. It’s usually when we are in the midst of some kind of trail that we search for God and wonder where He is. I am encouraged every time I read the story of Elijah in and his interaction with the Lord in 1 Kings 19:11-12, “Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces 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 still small voice.” As I read about the scene taking place in 1 Kings I am reminded that God is Spirit and no man has seen God at any time. The way God revealed His presence in the Old Testament was usually in some sort of manifestation like we read here.

All throughout the Bible we find the Lord speaking to man by special revelation where God is informing humanity concerning Whom He is and what He requires of us. The record of these divine revelations is contained all throughout our Bibles. The Bible records God revealing Himself in the following ways. Direct communication, the lot, the Urim and the Thummin, by a hand writing on the wall, transportation into the spirit world, dreams, visions, dictation, theophanies, angels, miracles, object lessons, direct events, prophets, Jesus Christ, and the Bible.

The Lord spoke to Adam in the Garden just as the He revealed Himself to Abraham by voice, speaking directly to him. Later we read God using a burning bush to draw Moses aside and then speaking directly with him. The Lord got Elijah’s attention through a strong wind and an earthquake and a fire before speaking to him in a still small voice. God spoke to Job out of a whirlwind and the list of manifestations of God goes on and on. God’s goal in getting our attention isn’t that we would focus on the means of His getting our attention and end up worshipping the means but that once God has it, we would honor Him by listening to His voice.

God can and does use the situations and circumstances of our lives to get our attention, but His desire is and always has been since the day He created man was to communicate with us by voice. God’s Word is His primary voice in the child of God. Every time we pick up our bible and read it we are reading the very Words of God.

The book of Hebrews reminds us that, “in the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe” (Hebrews 1:1,2). Today you and I can enjoy a personal relationship with God made possible by the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s Only Son. God came to us with skin on and because of Jesus we can now hear the voice of God by direct revelation as we study God’s Word.

In the days of old men and women looked for God in creation to know that He was with them. The children of Israel knew God was with them as He appears to them by day as a pillar of cloud and at night as a pillar of fire. Today we have it so much better. We don’t need to look for special revelation in the clouds or fire, earth quakes or storms to know God is with us. We have God’s Word that He is both with us and in and that nothing we experience in this life can separate us from His love that is revealed to us in Christ Jesus. We have the Holy Spirit with us and in us. God is as close as your skin. He is with us everywhere we go and in every situation we find ourselves in. Rest in God’s voice, His Word that reminds us,  

“Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Psalm 73:23-26  
 
I LOVE YOU!

Michael Osthimer

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