The Whisperer (8/28/2023)

As I was growing up, I looked to my older sister to lead me. She was a natural born leader. She led us siblings as if that was her calling. When we fought, I called her “bossy,” but I think she knew that deep in my heart I meant she was persuasive. As we grew older, we grew closer and closer, and in time, we spoke daily on the phone. One of those calls will be forever etched in my memory, the day I taught her to listen for the whisper.

She had called in tears. She was going through a very difficult time in her life. She felt like she was going to lose everything. And she confided to me that the LORD was silent. I assured her that was not so, and then I shared 1 Kings 19, Elijah on the mountain waiting for the LORD. I told her there was a great wind, but the LORD was not in the wind. Then there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After that there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. Finally, there was a murmuring whisper. And Elijah realized the LORD was present. Finally, as she sat silently on the other end of the phone trying to understand what I was sharing with her, I said, “Betty, sometimes we look for the LORD in the wrong places and expect the LORD to come to us in a display of earthly power, but the LORD most frequently comes to us in the silence, in the quiet.” She said nothing for a few moments. Then she said, “You mean the LORD is a whisperer?” I answered, “Yes.”

That was a breakthrough moment for my sister. She often told me that it totally changed her relationship with the LORD and with others. She came to be a person who needed times of silence daily and would rise early, before everyone else, just to have them. She would mention the LORD often in her conversations and would frequently end by saying, “Listen for the whisper.”

I was privileged to be with my sister the final week of her life. As I stood with the family around her bed, she talked a great deal to us, then she grew quiet and we talked to her, then in the final minutes, she opened her eyes, she looked at us all, she smiled, and she simply said, “I love you. Gotta go.” And I knew, she’d heard the whisper.

Months later, her kids asked me to come and help with getting her home ready for sale. It was a difficult trip. Signs of her were everywhere. As I was helping to take down her wall of inspirational sayings, I spotted it. “Make time for the quiet moments as God whispers and the world is loud.” I stood for the longest time with it in my hands. Her oldest daughter spotted me. She said, “Aunt Kate, I think you’re supposed to have that one.” And I do. It is in my kitchen. Daily it reminds me of my journey with my sister, the two of us taking turns leading the other, and of the day I was able to share with her a precious secret – we often look for the LORD in all the wrong ways – be quiet, be still, wait – the LORD is a whisperer.

As we journey in faith, buoyed by hope, fueled by love, let us take time for silence, to shush the world and allow the LORD to speak to us without distraction. Let us understand that while the LORD is capable of moving mountains and producing rumbling, earthshaking wind, the LORD is a whisperer who speaks to us in the stillness of our minds, hearts and souls. The LORD is with us always; let us be willing to still ourselves and listen.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.