Who Will Stand In The Narrow?
Who Will Stand in the Narrow?
“And after the fire came a still small voice.” —1 Kings 19:12
Don’t ignore God when He wakes you in the late-night or early morning hours to speak in that ‘Still Small Voice.’
It often happens quietly. No thunder. No lightning. Just a sudden stirring in your spirit. A name on your heart, a gut feeling, or a burden you can’t explain. And it comes during those hours when the world is sleeping—but God is not.
He speaks in whispers, not because He’s weak, but because He is close.
He knows who is crying out in desperation. And He may be stirring you to be His answer. Not always to fix it—but to pray, to intercede, to reach out, to encourage and to care.
We can be so consumed with our families, our friends—even our personal needs—that we miss the quiet cries of others.
We may never hear their groans. But God does. And He often chooses to use people—like you and me—as the delivery of His healing, His encouragement, and His mercy.
“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” —Galatians 6:2
Sometimes it’s easier to pray for the people we love or those whose lives are deeply woven into ours. But God may be asking you to carry the burden of someone you don’t even know well. Someone who is isolated, on the edge, and in desperate need of divine intervention.
God is looking for someone who will stand in the narrow.
A place where there is little room—where the pressure is real, where spiritual warfare rages. It’s the kind of standing that costs something.
It Costs Time. It Costs Comfort. And it Requires Attention.
If you’re too busy to give encouragement, you’re just too busy.
This is the uncomfortable truth. In a world obsessed with productivity, we’ve forgotten that presence is often more powerful than performance. Encouragement, intercession, availability—these are divine acts of service that echo all the way into eternity. Heaven hears, and Heaven rewards!
If you won’t stand in the narrow for others, why would God send someone to stand in the narrow for you?
It’s not punishment—it’s principle. God’s kingdom operates on sowing and reaping. On reciprocity. When we respond to His promptings for others, we become part of a divine circle of compassion and care.
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” —Galatians 6:7
When you sow prayer in the night, you reap mercy in your own hour of need. When you sow compassion, you reap companionship. When you sow encouragement, you reap encouragement. When you sow obedience to His still small voice, you reap the joy of knowing you were used by God.
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Lord, make me tender to Your still small voice. Help me not to roll over and forget Your call in the night. Teach me to make room in my life for divine interruptions—to bear burdens, offer encouragement, and stand in the narrow places where others are weary. Let me be found faithful, available, and willing. And when I am the one in need.. Send someone who will listen like I have listened.
~ Brother John Tarter