He too has had an amazing experience. He has just defeated the 400 prophets of Baal. He has been witness to God’s awesome power. Elijah should surely be on a real high, dining out on the story of what has just happened and feeling really pleased with all that has happened. But no. He sinks into a real dark depression. To be fair, things are not good for him. Jezebel is after his blood for slaying her prophets, he is alone and he wants to die.
So he runs…to the wilderness, to lick his wounds, to be on his own. He spends forty days and forty nights traveling to Horeb, the mountain of God. I can only imagine that the journey seemed interminable, that all that was burdening him seemed to get worse because he complains to God about all that has happened to him.
But isn’t that interesting?…He complains to God and God lets Elijah complain and get it all out in the open. I love that God doesn’t tell Elijah to pull himself together , nor does he tell Elijah off and remind Elijah of all that He, God, has done. He complains to God because when he gets to Horeb he discovers that God is already there. God says to him, ”What are you doing here , Elijah?” Just think about that for a moment. God was already in the wilderness when Elijah got there. Very often we think that the wilderness is a God-forsaken place. It feels like that certainly. It can feel like there is no life there and yet God is there and totally present with Elijah.
And what happens next? Elijah sees the glory of God in a way he has never seen it before. It is a totally unexpected way, without noise, without visual drama. The glory of God comes as a profound and unmistakeable silence on the mountain of God. And Elijah heard the silence.
Psalm 139 reminds us that there is no-where any of us can go that is where God isn’t. And that most certainly includes the desert wilderness of our lives. Even when we cannot hear God, even when there seems too be no evidence of His presence He is there. His glory abounds even when we are unaware of it or perhaps looking for it in the wrong place or maybe we don’t even have the strength to seek it anymore. It is there, God is wherever we are and that is where our hope lies… God present, God listening to us. We are never alone in the wilderness. Jesus has redeemed the wilderness.
1) As you think back over your wilderness times are you able to look back and see that God was there? How did He show Himself to you?
2) Read Psalm 139 slowly to yourself. Ask God to speak to you through it.Remember that God allowed Elijah to say what he needed to say. Spend some time being honest with God, knowing that He hears you.
Father God, Thank you that You are already in the wilderness with me, even though I may not see you, hear you or sense your presence. Help me to hang on to the fact that you are with me and help me to trust you in the dark and bleak times of my life.
Amen.
With love,
Rachel.
No comments:
Post a Comment