Day 44

Thursday, April 17th

“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

(1 Kings 19:11-13 NLT)

As we come to the end of our Lent journey, as we prepare to celebrate Easter in gratitude for what Jesus did for us on the cross, I fear that once this is all over, I will go back to letting the noise of life drown out the “gentle whisper” of God. I find it so easy to return secretly, imperceptibly, to my distracted, numbed-out way of living.

But I know something now that I didn’t before. Maybe I knew it in my head, because I know all the words of God are true. But I certainly didn’t know it in my heart.

I know now that anything God calls me to in this life is possible, not because of anything I am or anything I can do, but because Jesus lives in me. That is the secret to living freely and lightly. Staying connected to the Vine is the only thing I have to do. Each day and many times each day all I have to do is come to Jesus and He will do the rest through me. 

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.

(Ephesians 1:4-6 NLT)