Unexpected

Unexpected

Bible: 1 Kings 19:1-12

Reading

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father (JOHN 14:9).

In 1986, five year old Levan Merritt fell twenty feet into the gorilla enclosure of Jersey Zoo. As his parents and the rest of the crowd cried out for help, a full-grown male gorilla, named Jambo, put himself between the boy and several other gorillas. Then he began to gently stroke the child’s back. When Levan began to cry, Jambo led the other gorillas into their own enclosure as zoo-keepers and an ambulance driver came to the rescue. More than thirty years later, Levan still talks about Jambo the gentle giant—his guardian angel who acted in a shockingly unexpected way, changing how he thought about gorillas forever.

Elijah may have expected God to act in certain ways, but the King of kings used a rock-shattering wind, a powerful earthquake and raging fire to show Elijah how not to think of Him. Then He used a gentle whisper to reveal Himself (1 KINGS 19:11-12).

Elijah had seen God’s power before (18:38-39). But he didn’t fully understand the God who wants to be known as more than fearsome and terrifying (19:10,14). He offers us a real, peaceful and amazing relationship.

That quiet whisper found its full meaning in the powerful gentleness of Jesus, who said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (JOHN 14:9). He allowed Himself to be nailed to a tree, without fighting back or saying a word—an unexpected, loving act by the terrifying God who loves us.

GOD WON’T SHOUT IF WE ONLY NEED A WHISPER.

Youth Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries