Elijah learned that the all-powerful God of the universe who commands the elements speaks in a very quiet voice. As he stood on Mount Horeb, the very mountain where Moses received God’s law (also called Mount Sinai), Elijah looked out from the mouth of a cave and saw evidence of God’s might: a wind so powerful that it shattered large rocks, followed by an earthquake, followed by a fire. But as Elijah observed, God was “not in” any of those natural forces. Not that He didn’t control them; He just didn’t speak to Elijah through them. Instead, He spoke to Elijah with “a still small voice” (1 Kings 19:11-12).
The Hebrew word translated “still” in this passage, demamah (דְּמָמָה), indicates a reverent silence, an active calm accompanied by a heightened awareness of eternal things.
Nephi observed that his older brothers were responsive to dramatic things, but they completely missed many of God’s messages because they weren’t able to calm themselves enough to listen:
Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder.
1 Nephi 17:45
What kinds of messages can God communicate with thunder? Not very nuanced ones. I would assume that “You’d better shape up!” is about the extent of the information Laman and Lemuel were able to receive from God through that medium.
Nephi, on the other hand, experienced powerful things because of his willingness to listen and open his heart. “He hath filled me with his love,” he wrote, “even unto the consuming of my flesh” (2 Nephi 4:21).
Joseph Smith had a similar experience. In a letter to W. W. Phelps in 1832, he wrote:
Thus saith the still small voice, which whispereth through and pierceth all things, and often times it maketh my bones to quake while it maketh manifest …
Doctrine and Covenants 85:6
This week’s Come, Follow Me lesson asks the following question: “What distractions can we remove from our lives to feel the Spirit more often?” I can set aside my electronic devices for portions of the day, drive without listening to music or podcasts, and really listen as I pray. I can also speak more softly, mirroring the quiet voice of the Spirit, in order to encourage calm and peaceful dialogue at work and with family and friends.
Today, I will strive to hear the still small voice of God. I will remember that while He can speak to me in powerful and dramatic ways, His most powerful and life-changing messages come quietly.
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