God listens to Elijah - I Kings 17:22
And, Elijah witnessed breath poured into the son.
Elijah listens to God - I Kings 19:13
And, Elijah found God in the "low whispers."
The common natural way of providing for the earth---rain.
It dried up.
The uncommon Providential way of providing for Elijah---ravens.
Never dried up.
Do I realize that the Providential Hand of God is moving in uncommon ways in my life this very day?
The vilest of creatures took care of Elijah, not the kings.
And Elijah was on a shelf for more than a year
The man who could breathe life into sons.
Patiently waiting on a Good God!!!
Eating from mouths of birds.
Trusting God's timing.
Under the Care.
Such a moving story to know God uses the lowly widow. She took Elijah at his word even before feeding her own family in famine. And that one act opened the jar for Elijah to feed the widow's family for more than two years.
If I cannot see you and can only hear you, you exist for me not in space but in time where hearing happens. If I see you and can walk around you, I experience you as an object—-I can inspect you from all angles. Buechener says something of “extraordinary importance occurs when I more fully take you into myself by hearing you. “Hearing you speak brings me by the most direct of all routes something of the innermost secret of who you are.” Buechner, Frederick Whistling in the Dark
He was the prophet who called down fire and rain. He knew. Yet, he hurt and wondered and just wanted to die in midst of glory and ministry.
And Elijah records: I have had enough, Lord. 1 Kings 19:7. And I feel the same. Problem is my testy circumstances matter in no kingdom.
May I care about those things that touch Eternity.
“I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” I Kings 19:10
And God responds: “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
And this spent seeking prophet finds his God in a gentle Whisper. God will do His Work in his time by His Spirit, a sweet and gentle blowing of the Spirit of God. Whisper by me.
The news was dismal. The King of Assyria was lethal. Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. 2 Kings 19:17.
This so moves me. Take the letters of your life. Take your Instagram posts. Take all the words you hear that don't move you. Take the bitter biting silence from your family and friends. And spread that letter of life. Spread it out on your bed. And don't wail from your bed. Just cry from your heart. It's the Living Lord listening.
But He always comes.
And He is always asking:
What are you doing here?
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. I Kings 19:12. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
What am I doing here?
PHOTO: I heard an audible Voice one day as I walked this beach. A young lady stopped my stroll and said: "I came up to this beach to read my Bible. And God just told me to stop you and tell you that this thing you are going through is from Him. He is with you. You are going to be okay." She could have never known. I faced the biggest crisis, the Greatest Divide, of my life. And matching the grandeur of the skies and sea, I heard an audible Voice from a mouthpiece of God. More than a match.
No comments:
Post a Comment