“After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.  When he heard this,
Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.”

I have loved this passage from the First Book of Kings ever since I heard it for the first time. It reminds me of the challenge to find the Lord in the small things in life and to recognize his power.

The world we live in today is loud. We are surrounded by noise—the sounds of society yelling at each other with little regard to listening to the each other.  The 24-hour news cycle is punctuated by ‘breaking news,” to the point that it is hard to distinguish what is important and what is trivial.  We cannot escape the constant chatter of tweets that allow one to say anything in 140 characters or less.  Everywhere you look, people have headphones firmly attached to their ears.

In the midst of this noise, we are invited this Sunday to listen for the sure and certain voice of the Lord, who speaks to us as he speaks to Peter, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”  He invites us into a relationship of trust and faith.  When we listen and hear his quiet, gentle voice, we can walk toward the Lord, confident that He will calm the winds, still the lightning, and smooth the waters.

So be of great faith!  In the words of our Psalm today, “ Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.”