1 Kings 18:41-19:8
Elijah
senses that rain is on the way, that the three year drought is about to
end. So, he tells King Ahab to get up and celebrate. He tells him to
eat, drink, and celebrate. Elijah and his servant climb to the top of
Mount Carmel, and Elijah bows gets on his hands and knees in prayer.
Something inside of him is telling him that rain is coming, so he taps
into that power. As he's praying, he tells his servant to look out over
the sea and look for a rain cloud. The servant does this, and doesn't
see anything at first. After several times, the servant says, "I see a cloud, but it's no bigger than a hand and it's rising out of the sea."
When Elijah hears this, he tells his servant to get up and get out of there. "Go tell Ahab to saddle up and haul ass down the mountain if he wants to escape the storm that's about to arrive."
Ahab hightails it in his chariot and heads to Jezreel where his wife lives. His wife's name is Jezebel, and she's the princess of Jezreel. She has adopted Baal as her god, and has convinced Ahab that Baal is the true god. When Ahab arrives, he tells her all about what Elijah has done, and how he massacred all the prophets of Baal back at Mount Carmel. She's pissed off about it, and reports back to Elijah through a messenger that "the gods are going to get you back, and I'm gonna get even."
Upon hearing this, Elijah runs for his life out of there. He heads toward Beersheba, but in order to get there, he's gotta travel through the desert for awhile. After a day's journey in the wasteland, he comes across a lone broom bush and collapses under its shade. He cries out to God, "Take me now! I'm done! I'm ready to join my ancestors in the grave!" He falls asleep, hoping to breathe his last breath.
The
author writes that suddenly, an angel shakes him and wakes him up. The
angel tells Elijah to get up and eat. Elijah looks around and finds that
a loaf of bread is sitting on a bed of hot coals, freshly baked. A jug
of water sits next to it. He eats all he can manage and falls back to
sleep. Then, the angel wakes him up again, telling him the same thing.
So, Elijah eats and drinks more. The angel says, "You've got a long journey ahead, take advantage of this food and rest."
Elijah gets enough nourishment from the simple feast to walk forty days and nights in the hot, arid, desert. He arrives at Mount Horeb, crawls into a cave, and passes out.
The author is writing about a man who is doing amazing things through the power of God, yet still ends up at the end of his rope. He ends up wanting to die. He's tired, hungry, and hopeless. He's ready to die. Fear surrounds him, and he doesn't have the strength to take on more step.
One of the risks of following God is, the bar continually gets raised. There's no middle ground. God either is or isn't. And sometimes, the voice of God sounds absurd and contradictory. Sometimes, the voice of God is the only voice that isn't telling us to give up and to give ourselves a break. Just when we think that we've arrived to a great stopping point, we find a whole new horizon ahead and the possibilities of even taking one more step seem unbearably difficult.
God wants to keep Elijah on his feet and moving, but Elijah's ready to die. Ever feel like this?
Trusting in a Higher Power is not about getting to a certain level and then managing it. When we think we've advanced to a higher level of trust, the bar gets raised. It seems impossible, which is exactly what trust is about. When we choose to trust completely in the God we can't see or touch, we're saying that we don't know what the future looks like, but we're ready to find out.
When Elijah hears this, he tells his servant to get up and get out of there. "Go tell Ahab to saddle up and haul ass down the mountain if he wants to escape the storm that's about to arrive."
Ahab hightails it in his chariot and heads to Jezreel where his wife lives. His wife's name is Jezebel, and she's the princess of Jezreel. She has adopted Baal as her god, and has convinced Ahab that Baal is the true god. When Ahab arrives, he tells her all about what Elijah has done, and how he massacred all the prophets of Baal back at Mount Carmel. She's pissed off about it, and reports back to Elijah through a messenger that "the gods are going to get you back, and I'm gonna get even."
Upon hearing this, Elijah runs for his life out of there. He heads toward Beersheba, but in order to get there, he's gotta travel through the desert for awhile. After a day's journey in the wasteland, he comes across a lone broom bush and collapses under its shade. He cries out to God, "Take me now! I'm done! I'm ready to join my ancestors in the grave!" He falls asleep, hoping to breathe his last breath.
The
author writes that suddenly, an angel shakes him and wakes him up. The
angel tells Elijah to get up and eat. Elijah looks around and finds that
a loaf of bread is sitting on a bed of hot coals, freshly baked. A jug
of water sits next to it. He eats all he can manage and falls back to
sleep. Then, the angel wakes him up again, telling him the same thing.
So, Elijah eats and drinks more. The angel says, "You've got a long journey ahead, take advantage of this food and rest."Elijah gets enough nourishment from the simple feast to walk forty days and nights in the hot, arid, desert. He arrives at Mount Horeb, crawls into a cave, and passes out.
The author is writing about a man who is doing amazing things through the power of God, yet still ends up at the end of his rope. He ends up wanting to die. He's tired, hungry, and hopeless. He's ready to die. Fear surrounds him, and he doesn't have the strength to take on more step.
One of the risks of following God is, the bar continually gets raised. There's no middle ground. God either is or isn't. And sometimes, the voice of God sounds absurd and contradictory. Sometimes, the voice of God is the only voice that isn't telling us to give up and to give ourselves a break. Just when we think that we've arrived to a great stopping point, we find a whole new horizon ahead and the possibilities of even taking one more step seem unbearably difficult.
God wants to keep Elijah on his feet and moving, but Elijah's ready to die. Ever feel like this?
Trusting in a Higher Power is not about getting to a certain level and then managing it. When we think we've advanced to a higher level of trust, the bar gets raised. It seems impossible, which is exactly what trust is about. When we choose to trust completely in the God we can't see or touch, we're saying that we don't know what the future looks like, but we're ready to find out.
No comments:
Post a Comment