I was Ashamed of Myself.

Good Monday morning, once again Mr. Insomnia showed up last night, so you may have to overlook me, if something does not make sense. Once again we will spend two days looking at two different things in the same verse.
You see yesterday morning I was having one of those pity party moments, just wondering why I had not seen God working in my life lately. There have been a lot of different things that I have been praying about, and yet I have not seen that many answers to my prayers. Actually in some of those situations the situation has gotten worse instead of better.
Then as I was getting in the shower to go to church, I heard that still small voice ask me, "what about all the times I have spoken to you lately?". Immediately I was ashamed of myself, you see I have been looking for God to work in some miraculous way, and I completely overlooked all the times that I have heard His voice directing my path. It wasn't that He hasn't worked in my life, it's that I got caught up looking for one thing, when He was doing something else. Then as I was praying, thanking Him for showing me what He has been doing, and asking forgiveness for not seeing what He had been doing, He first gave me today's devotion, and then showed me tomorrow's also. This should be a familiar passage to you, I have used it a couple of times already, but apparently I need it again, and I imagine someone else needs it too.
If your child, or grandchild (as some of you are that old, I'm not yet), comes to you scared, how do you talk to them? If they just come to you, just because they want to show you something, or they just want a moment of attention from you, how do you talk to them? Do you use the same large, booming voice you use when you are trying to stop them from doing something that can hurt them, or do you lower your voice, and try to soften it up to show your love. I know when Aaron comes running up to me saying, "daddydaddydaddydaddy" I always ask softly "what is it?". Usually he just says "see" and holds up one of his toys, and I will softly say "yea, I see". Then he goes back to his room, he just wanted to know that he could still get my attention. In 1 Kings 19:12, after a series of a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire, the Bible says that God was not in any of those, "and after the fire a still small voice". That is where God was, showing His love for Elijah.
With everything going on around Elijah, God was showing His love by being a comfort, Elijah was expecting God to work in some big extraordinary way, and yet God found it more important to be a comfort to Elijah. However Elijah knew immediately the call of God, I had to be reminded of how many times He has spoken to me, how many times He has directed my path lately, how many times He has shown His love for me, and comforted me lately. I thought I knew how He should be working in my life, but of course He knows more than I do, He knows better than I do what I need. I wanted Him to do something that would ease our financial problems, I was looking for something that would ease my physical problems, I was looking for other problems to be resolved. However, God said, "I'm just going to comfort you, and lead you in the way you should go. My grace is sufficient".
I thank God, for reminding me that I should be thankful for all the times that He has shown His love for me, by being a calming presence in a time of trouble. And for showing me what His will is for my life, after all I want to stay in the center of His will. Sometimes we have to discern what His will is, lately He has told me what He wanted from me. I guess He knew that I probably would not be able to discern correctly, because of the things going on in my life, and rather than have to chastise me for not doing right He made it clear enough that I could understand. I don't know about you, but I love to hear that still small voice. Not only is it the most beautiful sound I've ever heard, but it is so calming, after all it is the voice of my God, making His presence known in my life, how can I be affected by the world, when I know that God is beside me, loving me, when I know that He considers me worthy to hear His voice. I am extremely humbled, knowing that He considers me worthy.
Tomorrow, part two of this, even though I am going to look at something totally different, it does go right along with today's lesson.