Similar to Moses and the Israelites’ experience at Mt Sinai (Exodus 19:16-19; Exodus 20:18), did you know that God also appeared to Elijah at Mt Sinai (aka Horeb)? But in distinctly different ways:
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- At Sinai for Moses, there was earthquake, fire and a loud trumpet sound (that caused the mountains to quake greatly), in addition to thunderings and lightnings. God was in them and Hebrews 12:19-20 tells us that the people around heard His voice. Psalms 81:7 suggests that God’s voice must have sounded fearsome as thunder.
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- For Elijah, while there was earthquake, fire and wind (perhaps wind sounding like a trumpet; NB: as wind caused the rocks to break in pieces in the Elijah story, so did the trumpet sound crush the walls of Jericho in Joshua’s days) but God wasn’t in these grand showings. He was in the still small voice.
- For Elijah, while there was earthquake, fire and wind (perhaps wind sounding like a trumpet; NB: as wind caused the rocks to break in pieces in the Elijah story, so did the trumpet sound crush the walls of Jericho in Joshua’s days) but God wasn’t in these grand showings. He was in the still small voice.
So one lesson here is that God could come/move/speak to us in a very loud manner but could also come/move/speak in that still small voice…we can’t put Him in a box or predict His ways.
God spoke to Elijah in a still small voice while Elijah was in a quiet cave, alone, at night. The importance of having quiet alone time with God is another key point here, not that we should go live in caves 
Spending time with God at night and early in the morning are some lessons to learn from the life of Jesus on earth also. Psalms 37:7 – “Quiet your heart in His presence and pray; keep hope alive as you long for God to come through for you.”