By Simon Baker, student news writer, Office of University Communications
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Dr. Daniel Wilson, director of evangelism for Alabama’s State Board of Missions, spoke on how God’s presence can be found unexpectedly at Campbellsville University.
Wilson, who received a 2002 Bachelor of Science in Biblical Studies and his Master of Theology in 2005, both from Campbellsville University, began with a statistic from the Mayo Clinic that 44 percent of college students struggle with depression and anxiety.
Wilson read from 1 Kings 19: 1-13, where Elijah is suffering from depression and contemplating suicide. But God showed up not in the fire, earthquake or wind but in the silence/whisper.
Wilson emphasized verses 11-13 in 1 Kings, “But the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.”
“God was in the whisper,” he said.
Wilson said Elijah went from being a person who went from a spiritual high by taking on 850 false prophets to being in isolation, depressed and suicidal.
Wilson read where an angel talked to Elijah and told him to “get up and eat” (1 Kings 19:7), showing how “the angel does not reprimand Elijah and how God accepts us where we are and meets us where we are.”
“At times, there are things you need to do more than pray,” Wilson said, “like taking a nap and eating.”
God did not show up in the way people would think, he said.
God was not in the wind, earthquake, or fire but in the silence.
Elijah thought God would appear elegant, but “God was not in the big things. God shows up in the whisper,” Wilson said.
“People need a hello, a smile–what people often need aren’t big, but small,” Wilson said.
Wilson said the Christian community is about helping others so people know they are not alone when they fall.
“Jesus Christ is with us in the whispers,” he said.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university that offers over 100 programs of study including doctoral, master, bachelor, associate and certificate programs. The website for complete information is www.campbellsville.edu.