Only in the quiet?

Many years ago, I listened to a sermon based on 1 Kings 19:8-15a.  Do you remember the passage?  In it, Elijah doesn't find God in the earthquake, fire or great wind.  He finds God in the quiet.  The preacher that day said that from this we can gather that God is to be found in only the quiet.  Forget loud music like Amy Grant's Emmanuel (the example he used) -- God isn't in that kind of music.  God is in the quiet.

I always resented that sermon.  I still remember it today, and I still think he was wrong.  I do find God in the noisy music of Amy Grant (and Mercy Me and Reliant K, and the list goes on and on).  Call me a heretic, but last wekend I even heard God in the music of Bob Dylan.

This past Sunday, Jack preached on the same passage.  His message was that God can be found everywhere.  God could have chosen to be in the earthquake, the fire, the wind, but he chose, for Elijah, the quiet.  Elijah needed God in the quiet.

Don't box God in.  We can't.  God can be found everywhere -- wherever God chooses to be.

We are the ones who must open our eyes and ears -- waiting for God.