Elijah was a great man of God who lived about 2800 years ago. He was one of only two men mentioned in the Bible who were taken up into heaven, never experiencing death (2 Kings 2:11). Shortly before his ascension into heaven he had fled into the wilderness to escape a death threat made by Jezebel, the infamous wife of the evil king Ahab. Here is the story of a conversation he had with God there:
And he came to a cave there, and lodged there. And, behold, the word of Jehovah came to him, and he said to him, What are thou doing here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah, the God of hosts. For the sons of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword. And I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away. And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before Jehovah. And, behold, Jehovah passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before Jehovah, but Jehovah was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but Jehovah was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but Jehovah was not in the fire. And after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice to him, and said, What are thou doing here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah, the God of hosts. For the sons of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword. And I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life to take it away (1 Kings 19:9-14).
God does not make his presence known in the world by acts of great power. He is heard in still small voices. The Christians of the first few centuries after Christ were a small, persecuted minority of mostly humble, ordinary folk. Yet within three centuries they had conquered the great Roman empire without lifting a sword. They conquered it by the strength of the truth they had. Truth may be suppressed and persecuted for a while, but it always prevails in the end. Godly men seek to conquer evil and promote good by using (both proclaiming and living) the still small voice of "… the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17).