Out of Hiding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFkDqQtfs0w&feature=youtu.be

The story of Elijah is a truly fascinating journey. From the moment he is introduced until he is whisked away in a whirlwind to heaven, we get to see an astonishing story between God and his child. One that shows time and time and time again that the Lord provides. Whether it be God providing food for Elijah through the ravens, bringing him meat and bread twice a day, or God providing fire from heaven when Elijah prayed for Him to show all the Baal worshippers who the One true God was, God continuously provided for Elijah and showed him He was there. For two full chapters, 1 Kings 17 and 18, there is no doubt God has His hand on Elijah’s life. I think that is why what Elijah does in Chapter 19 is so puzzling. We have just read how God brought down a fire upon the altar, that Elijah built, that was so ferocious it consumed the altar, the water poured over it and the stones it was made up of. There Elijah stood, alone in his faith, in front of Israel and 450 Baal prophets, and God did not leave him abandoned like, the supposed god, Baal, did his people.

If I would have been in Elijah’s place, my confidence in the Lord would have been sky high and I would have felt invincible! Therefore, when you read, following this amazing moment and the killing of all 450 Baal prophets, that Jezebel, king Ahab’s wife and chief priestess of Baal, sent a message to Elijah saying, “So may the gods do to me, and even more, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like the life of one of them” (19:2), you expect the next verse to say “And Elijah laughed in her face until he cried”. That would have been awesome. But what does 19:3 really say? “And Elijah was afraid and arose and ran for his life.” Yep. You read that correctly. He was afraid and ran. Here is where, if I was God, and aren’t we all so grateful I am not, I would have been done. After all the times God provided and protected Elijah, he runs? He just brought down fire from heaven, revealing His might and power, and Elijah was afraid? He did and he was. It seems like such a wrong reaction. And, honestly, it was. But it’s not Elijah’s reaction that I think we should see, but how God handles it that is so moving. God did have every right to be done with Elijah at that moment. He had shown Elijah He was “never going to leave or forsake him”, countless times and countless ways.  

So, He could have packed up His bags and found someone else to use as His vessel. Instead, God shows him grace and a gentle understanding. As Elijah sits under a tree, asking to die, God provides an angel of the Lord to feed him and to encourage Elijah to rest. He then takes Elijah on a journey to Mt. Sinai and upon His arrival asked Elijah “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (19:9)  After Elijah responds with  “I have been very zealous (impassioned) for the LORD God of hosts (armies) [proclaiming what is rightfully and uniquely His]; for the sons of Israel have abandoned (broken) Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I, only I, am left; and they seek to take away my life”, God told Elijah to go out and stand as He passed by. Yet, He was not in the mighty wind. Not in the earthquake. Not in the fire. But, in the gentle blowing wind. After He passes by, God ask again, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  In which Elijah responds with the same answer.

God’s response? He laid out a step by step plan of how Elijah would be able to finish the destruction of the worship of Baal and how he would gain a successor and helper. When Elijah felt shame for how he responded to Jezebel and exhausted from his continual battles, God could have left him there. Yet, He didn’t. We, like Elijah, feel that when we run out of steam in the face of our daily battles that God is ashamed or angered with us. But the reality is, God understands and wants to provide a place of rest. He knows that no matter how many times He revealed Himself to Elijah, or reveals Himself to us, to continuously follow Him in a world that constantly says “I want to destroy you”, is exhausting.

That even though we see Him provide over and over again in our lives, to stand and fight another battle is, often, more than we can bear. We grow weary. We need rest. To run away from it all. To hide. So God says come with Me. He wants to take us away from it, to His mountain, not to let us wallow in it, but to gently ask us why we are here. If our answer focuses on the problems, instead of the Solution, God knows we need to see Him. So as we are there with Him, He moves us to listen to the gentle breeze to find His voice in the midst of all the other noise. And when God ask us again why we are here, after we have spent time before Him, and we answer, again, by focusing on our problems instead of the Solution, God knows that, just like with Elijah, we need Him to take over. We need Him to lay out a step by step plan for every problem we claim to have. God understands. He wants to give us rest. Rest that renews not leaves us unchanged. Even though God has shown us He is faithful to provide and protect, we won’t always find the strength to stand and face the battle, so if we run, let us run to God so that He may give us rest and a new plan.