The Big Show

The Big Show


“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 NEW LIVING TRANSLATION


For the longest time I always expected whatever God said or did, it would be big! He did big miracles like splitting water in half or raising the dead. Our church was big, so I expected that God only deals in big. Bigger is always better right? Size matters! The universe is big! Creation is big. I used to hear people say, my God is a big God! In college, the professors would say we needed to think global in our ministries! I figured God must be involved in the real big ministries, the ones that were on television or the ones in the mega-churches. Peter Gabriel says in his song named Big Time that he will pray to a big god, kneel in the big church and that his heaven will be a big heaven. I like his suggestion in the song that his mind is getting bigger because of the fancy words he knows. He goes on to say he has a big mouth, fat head, bigger eyes, big car, big belly, big house, big bank account and big circumstances. Big, big, big!

When God comes to meet with Elijah, he shows up big but, he only whispers. In the same way, the biggest thing I have ever heard from God, was that he designed me (Psalm 139) and that he has covered all the things wrong with me by his son’s sacrifice (Isaiah 53) which was also only a whisper. The biggest ministries I have been involved in were also the smallest. They were whispers to the homeless about where to find food. They were a soft knock on the door to deliver Christmas presents to kids. Those things don’t seem so big. Or are they?

No, I don’t think big churches and television ministries are bad. They serve a purpose that God understands and controls. But, maybe the biggest thing any of us can do for God is to bless one single person. Maybe the most earth-shattering and explosive thing we can hear from God is the small whisper that He loves us and wants us to leave our sin behind. Then, we can see how big He really is.