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"That was a miracle." Ronald Reagan was 11 years old in the winter of 1921-1922. Sitting beneath the iron Galena Avenue Bridge, which connected Dixon North Side to Dixon South Side, Reagan heard his first radio broadcast and for him it was a miracle. The Illinois boy was listening to KDKA broadcast a symphony orchestra playing "The Skater's Waltz" from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A young boy from a small Midwestern city just had the world of sound opened unto him. Remembering that experience Reagan said, "You know -- none of the developments that came after, talkies and television and so forth, were ever such a revelation as that day I first scratched that crystal with a wire whisker, under the bridge at Dixon."
With all the prophets being killed by Jezebel's sword, Elijah feels alone. In fear he flees the land of Israel taking refuge in a cave. He makes his case in a plea before God, "I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." Looking back we know Elijah was a great man in history and at the end of his life's story he succeeded in his calling. But, this should not lessen the impact of his present situation. Elijah was afraid. Elijah did feel isolated. Elijah did believe himself to be a failure. Huddled in a cave Elijah was in desperate need of reassurance.
Seeking God, Elijah did not find him in the great and powerful wind or in the earthquake and neither in the fire, but in "a still small voice." Elijah heard God in a gentle whisper and received a threefold mission. Confident, having heard the voice of God, Elijah departed the cave to fulfill the commission bestowed upon him. The whisper, for Elijah, was a miracle.
God's voice, carried miraculously across the airwaves, comes to us unexpectedly and mysteriously. Yet, in that voice we have both our call to service and the reassurance of God's abiding presence.
With all the prophets being killed by Jezebel's sword, Elijah feels alone. In fear he flees the land of Israel taking refuge in a cave. He makes his case in a plea before God, "I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." Looking back we know Elijah was a great man in history and at the end of his life's story he succeeded in his calling. But, this should not lessen the impact of his present situation. Elijah was afraid. Elijah did feel isolated. Elijah did believe himself to be a failure. Huddled in a cave Elijah was in desperate need of reassurance.
Seeking God, Elijah did not find him in the great and powerful wind or in the earthquake and neither in the fire, but in "a still small voice." Elijah heard God in a gentle whisper and received a threefold mission. Confident, having heard the voice of God, Elijah departed the cave to fulfill the commission bestowed upon him. The whisper, for Elijah, was a miracle.
God's voice, carried miraculously across the airwaves, comes to us unexpectedly and mysteriously. Yet, in that voice we have both our call to service and the reassurance of God's abiding presence.
