Elevated Ground

Blood Of Christ ❤️

Covered. Cleansed. Redeemed. Through His sacrifice, we are made right, not by our works, but by His grace. The blood He shed speaks mercy over every mistake and gives us new life.

“Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” — Romans 5:9

Salvation isn’t complicated. Confess. Believe. Be saved. Romans 10:9 🤍

“And the Holy Spirit descended like a dove…” — Luke 3:22

What we see as God’s silence does not mean a loss of absence

How many of you have sent a message to a friend and watched it sit on “Deliviered for hours? 

No response

No explanation

Just silence.

And after a while, your mind starts to fill in the blanks.

 “Did I say something wrong?”

 “Are they ignoring me?” 

 “Did I mess this up?”

If we are honest, thats how some of us feel about God.

You prayed… you asked for direction… you needed clarity… And all you got back was silence.

You start to wonder, “God, are you ignoring me?” “Did I do something wrong?” “Are You even there?”

But here is the big truth that I want you to leave here today with.

God’s silence is not God’s absense.

1 Kings 19:11-12 ~ 

“And he said, ‘Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.’ And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.”

In this passage, Elijah is exhausted. He is scared. He feels alone. To give a little back story He is currently on the run after Jezebel sent him a letter saying that she would kill him before tomorrow, so he runs in fear up to a cave on a mountain. 

We see that God tells him to stand on the mountain.

A violent wind tears through the mountains. 

But, God wasn’t in the wind.

The earth shakes. 

But, God wasn’t in the earthquake.

Fire falls.

But, God wasn’t in the fire.

Then.. a whisper.

Not dramatic, loud, or overwhelming like Elijah was expecting. A whisper. Elijah expected God in the spectacular. But God spoke in the stillness.

Sometimes we expect God to shout, but He chooses to whisper. And, if he whispers, that means he is close.

Let’s look at the gap between the OT and the NT. 400 years where not prophet spoke on behalf of God. 400 years. No new word. No miracles recorded. Nothing.

Then all of the sudden Jesus shows up. The silence wasn’t abandonment, it was preperation. God wasn’t absent, He was setting the stage. Some of you are in a season that feels quiet. But the season are often preparation seasons. Jus because God is quiet, doesn’t mean that he is gone.

But, what if God isn’t silent. What if we’re just too loud. Too distracted. 

When you call your best friend, you don’t talk for 10 minutes straight and then hang up. A relationship requires listening, not just speaking.

 So when we pray, do we actually leave space for God to respond? Or do we just treat Him like a spiritual vending machine?

Put in the request.

Wait for blessing.

Walk away.

Are we opening our Bible daily, or are we letting social media become our “Bible”? 

Are we discipled by Jesus, or our algorithm

So tonight, instead of asking, “God, why are You silent?” Maybe we should ask, “God, what do I need to turn down so I can hear you?”

Because God’s silence is not his absense. Sometimes it’s an invitation. 

An invitation to slow down. 

To lean in. 

To listen closer.

Because the same God who whispered to Elijah, the same God who was working in the 400 years, is still speaking today.

The question isn’t whether God speaks. The question is are we listening?

1 Samuel 15:22 (CSB) -

"Then Samuel said:

Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams."

In this verse, God says that God delights in obedience more than he does offerings. Are you obeying God? All of us, despite what we may think, are all falling short.

Today, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal that place in out life, convict us of that place in our life, and guide us on how to fix this place in our life.

Scripture –  Psalms 73:21-23 (ESV) 

“21 When my soul was embittered,      when I was pricked in heart,  22 I was brutish and ignorant;      I was like a beast toward you. 

23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;      you hold my right hand.” 

Devotional – 

There are moments when I do not enjoy what is going on around me. Sometimes so much so that my heart becomes a little harder each time. I I question why God allows certain things, then I remember Psalm 73, and see that God’s people have always wrestled with these problems. 

To give a little background to this Psalm, the psalmist Asaph was struggling with envy over the prosperity of the wicked. So, in these verses, he is admitting how foolish he was, even admitting behaving like a beast towards God. He is honest with God, not just with his behavior, but also with his heart posture. Despite Asaph behaving so hatefully towards God, He never left his side. God stayed close and held his hand. So, even when our heart is so bitter, God is still faithful. 

This should remind us that our relationship with God isn’t based on how well we manage our emotions. Even when our lives feel like a jumbled-up mess, even when we don’t understand, God remains nearby. He doesn’t wait for us to gather ourselves before offering His hand out to us; before embracing us like we are. God meets us where we are but doesn’t leave us how we are. What a blessing this is! 

Key Takeaway -  

Even when our heart grows bitter; we don’t need to run from God but to Him. 

Prayer -