The Place of Beginning Again - One Year Devotions for Women

Then the LORD told him, “Go back the way you came, and travel to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram.” - 1  Kings 19:15

What does God’s gentle whisper sound like? How can we know if a voice in our head belongs to God or if it is a product of our own fertile imagination?

First of all, God’s “voice” will never contradict his written word. If I put my inner thoughts through the filter of Scripture in context, and my thoughts “line up” with God’s word, then I am safe to believe that I am hearing his whisper.

Second, we will know God’s gentle whisper because it will always bring grace to our raw spirit, mercy to our sorry heart, and love to our discouraged soul. Elijah had run away from God’s work in fear, but God met him and offered him bread and water. That’s grace. However, God didn’t say, “You can just stay here as long as you want. Enjoy your pity party.” Instead, God told his prophet, “Go back” (1 Kings 19:15), and “Elijah went” (1 Kings 19:19). God tells us, his children, to go back. Back to that painful situation and those difficult people. Back to the service that each of us has been equipped to complete.

But God doesn’t send us back alone. He sends us in the power of the Holy Spirit and with the gentle whisper of his love and encouragement. The gentle whisper reminded Elijah that, as far as God was concerned, the place of discouragement could become the place of beginning again.

For Further Study: 1 Kings 19:7-18

Excerpted from The One Year Devotions for Women, Copyright ©2000 by Jill Briscoe. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

For more from Jill Briscoe, please visit TellingtheTruth.org.

SPECIAL OFFER