God spoke to me recently from the story of 1 Kings 19, where Elijah was on the mountaintop. It’s a funny thing how God meets you where you are and desires to comfort you in that place.
Elijah had been running from Jezebel and got to a place
where was just tired. Tired of running, and he said to the Lord, “I
have had enough Lord. Take my life, for am no better than my
ancestors who have already died.” Then the Scripture says an angel
of the Lord came to him and told him to eat (and drink). For the journey ahead
of him is too much for him. The Scripture doesn’t say that he needed to eat
again, it doesn’t say that he was tired anymore. God fed him and
sustained for 40 days. The food and drink that God provided gave him enough
strength to travel 40 days and nights until he arrived to Horeb, the mountain
of God, then met God at a cave. Know this, IF God provides for you,
it’s going to be enough to sustain you for whatever time or function is needed.
Then the Lord appeared to Elijah and God said, “What are you
doing here?” Funny how God asked Elijah what he was doing there,
when God was the one Who sent him there. God has a purpose for
bringing us to the things He brings us to, He asks us the questions to see if
we know. And Elijah said, “I have zealously served the Lord God
Almighty. And then he starts talking about the people and how they
rejected God’s covenant, and torn down altars and did this and that, and then
he says and I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.” Isn’t
that just like us, blaming stuff on people, pointing the finger at them and
then say how they’re out to get us. Hmmmm.
Then God tells Elijah to go before Him on the mountain, and
we know what happens, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm
came. But the Lord was not in the wind. Then an
earthquake, then a fire, then finally the sound of a gentle
whisper. And that’s where God was. My hubby, Pastor Jeff,
did a four-part series on the Hearing the Voice of God and how important it is
to hear Him speak. God speaks in a whisper. With all
these things going on, God spoke to Elijah in a
whisper. Seemingly back to back, the windstorm, the
earthquake, the fire, because the Scripture doesn’t break, much like our
lives. Things happen, back to back. And God speaks in the
midst of it all, in a whisper. Do we hear Him? Are we
hearing Him?
Then God asked Elijah again, “What are you doing here?” Same
exact question as before. God wanted to know if Elijah’s answer was
going to change. Did Elijah hear Him? But Elijah gave the
same exact answer. The SAME EXACT ANSWER. How
many times has God asked us a question, presenting us the opportunity to change
our responses but we give Him the same answer? The same exact answer.
Then God sends Elijah back the same way again, almost
dismissively, answering his complaint, the same complaint as before, of being
the only one, but letting him know, he yet had a job to do. So go on
back and do it. He said to Elijah, “Go back the way you came.. When you
get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also,
anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of
Shaphat from Abel Mehola to succeed you as prophet… Yet
I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to
Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” And in His mercy
and His grace (for it is SUFFICIENT), He gives Elijah help.
Spoke to me in so many ways. Sometimes we
get to the point in ministry, in life even, that we are tired. Tired
from ministry. Tired of fighting. Tired of trying to tell
people about God and they refuse to listen. Tired of
serving. We feel alone. Like we are the only ones doing
things. We feel used. Abused. Let
down. We feel like someone of the enemy is always out to get us and
we get to the place where Elijah did, just plain tired. I don’t want
to do this anymore. I don’t want to fight anymore. Just
end this now, Lord. Take me away from here. Take me out
of here. And God in His sovereignty, and comfort, provides for
us. He shows us and gives us something to sustain us (His grace is
sufficient… there it goes again). A word, food for the
Spirit. Something to build us up, to encourage us. Then
once He sees that we are built up, He send us on our way to the next place He
has for us. A place where He can do further work to build up our
character and make us more like His Son. More like
Jesus. Isn’t that what all this is about anyway? To be
conformed into the image of the Son. He brings us to a place of
solitude to do that. Where the only place we can turn to, is
Him. Where the only thing, the only One we can see is Him.
Elijah was in the cave. Alone. Then
God does all these things before Him. Right before His
eyes. And they were destructive things. A
windstorm. The Scripture says that it was such a terrible blast that
the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. Then
God sends an earthquake, and we know how destructive they can be, we’ve seen
the destruction with our natural eyes. Then God sends a fire
following it, all of this right before Elijah’s eyes.
God allows us to go through things. Turbulent
things. Destructive things. And things happen right before our very
eyes, but in the midst of these things, God wants us to see Him. To
hear Him. In the midst of all the noise, He spoke in a whisper.
And so He asks Elijah again, (as He does with us), to see if
he “heard” anything. Because He wants Elijah to know, I am with you,
Elijah. In the midst of the storm, raging in your life, I am with
you. Hear Me. In the midst of things breaking apart; the
ground falling apart beneath you, I am with you. In the midst of the
fiery furnace, I am with you. You shall go through the fire, but you
will not smell of smoke, I am with you. HEAR ME.
God is with you. In the midst of whatever it is
you are going through, He says, “I am with you. Hear Me.”
Oh, that we would hear. Praying for the ears to
do so. God is real and He is speaking….
Hear Him.
Sis. E
Copyright ©2019 EvelynFannell
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