1 Kings 19:7-13
We're in a battle. Have you noticed? How many of us have gone through a battle or are going through one right now?
I want to talk to you about where God is in your battle and where He isn't.
Let's start with a story:
1 Kings 19:7-13:
The angel of the Lord came the second time and touched him and said, Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you. So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and nights to Horeb, the mount of God. There he came to a cave and lodged in it; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
He replied, "I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I, I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away."
And He said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire [a sound of gentle stillness and] a still, small voice.
When Elijah heard the voice, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
Elijah was weary. He had been fighting for the Lord to prove to the people of Israel whose God was greater - Jehovah or Baal. He had been fighting an evil queen, Jezebel, and the king, Ahab. And even though he proved God was greater, the evil still pursued him. He decided to quit, to run. It was time to lay down and die. He had been in a fierce battle, was still in it, and he was weary from the fight and for running in fear of his life.
In that place of weariness and fear, what happened?: Depression, despondency, hiding, giving up, rejection, forgetting how great God is and how He used Elijah to prove His greatness and power, and forgetting that there were others like him that hadn't forsaken God.
God feeds him . The food God gave him was to sustain him for 40 days and 40 nights. When I looked up the Number 40 and its significance, this is some of what I found:
Transition, change, testing, trial, purifying and understanding.
The Lord didn't prepare Elijah to run and hide, he was getting him ready for his next assignment. When the Lord is preparing you for his next assignment some of the things you might experience are transition or change; a time of testing or trial; and a time of purifying and understanding.
The Lord wasn't preparing Elijah for a place of hiding, he was preparing him to leave behind those things that were bringing about the weariness and despondency, the depression, rejection, questioning, and fear that he was experiencing, so that He could bring him to his place of assignment. But that's not what Elijah decided to do.
Elijah goes to the mountain of the Lord - Horeb. Now, some say that Mt. Horeb is really another name for Mt. Sinai. Interesting, because this is the place where Moses received the 10 commandments and also the "rock" that was struck to get water for the Israelites when they were wandering in the desert.
Elijah didn't go there to receive from the Lord, though, as Moses did, but to hide.
In verse 9 it says: "There he came to a cave and lodged in it."
One of the definitions of lodge in Hebrew is Luwn, which means:
"To abide, remain; to complain, cause to grumble".
Elijah, in his place of running and hiding, decided to lodge in the cave. He decided that's where he needed to be to get away from all the disappointment and turmoil in his life. The place where he was going to lick his wounds and wait to die.
But God wasn't asking Elijah to hide. The food the Lord had given Elijah was to strengthen him for the assignment the Lord had in store for him. He had something very specific for Elijah to do. So God, again, asks Elijah what he's doing there in that cave.
We can be like Elijah. There are times we decide to lodge. We can lodge in our places of hiding, despondency, weariness, disappointments, anger, loneliness, rejection, and fears, and even our comfort zones and God says to us, "What are you doing here?"
We can then make all our excuses to God as to why we're lodging in that cave:
"I'm tired, Lord."
"The battle is too hard for me to fight."
"No one is with me; I'm alone"
"No one cares or loves me - even you, God."
"I'm afraid."
We exalt the battle, the enemy, our situation over who God is and what He has done.
Then the Lord shows Elijah where He is when the battle rages in our lives in vs. 11-12:
"And He said, Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire [a sound of gentle stillness and] a still, small voice."
God's not in our drama. He's in the place of stillness and rest. The storm may be raging all around you and you're wondering where God is. You're trying to find Him in the wind - but He's not there. You try to find Him in the midst of the earth shaking all around you - He's not there. You try to find Him when the fire rages all around you - He's not there. You're trying to find him in the storm - He's not there.
He's in the sound of gentle stillness - the still, small voice.
When the winds howl, the earth shakes, a fire rages - in all the raging storms in our lives, God wants us to quiet ourselves and listen to His still, small voice. Not the voice of the storm that is giving you words of fear, hopelessness, destruction, but His voice that gives you words of hope, peace, direction, and protection.
In verse 11, God tells Elijah to stand at the mouth of the cave while all the forces of nature rage around him. Picture that: A hurricane-force wind is howling all around him - but he's not hurt. An earthquake hits - but Elijah is not hurt. A fire rages - but Elijah is not hurt.
When the storms of life are raging and whirling all around us, if we will obey God and do what He asks of us, His hand will sustain and protect us and He will envelop us with His peace.
- In Psalm 91 , where He tells us He is our shelter, refuge, shield, and the One we can trust;
- In Mark 4:36-40, where we see that in the storm, Jesus calms the waters;
- In Isaiah 26:3-8, where we are told that God keeps us in His peace when our thoughts are on Him;
- In Galatians 5:22, where we are reminded that one of the fruits of the Spirit is peace;
- And in Philippians 4:7, where we are encouraged that when our minds are focused on the Lord, we will dwell in His peace.
And there He will pose the question: "What are you doing here?"
What will be your response?
Elijah chose to obey God when He called him out of the cave of hiding and He obeyed.
Will we obey like Elijah when God calls us to come out of our caves, stand before Him and train our ears to listen to His still, sure, gentle but strong voice that will sustain us, keep us, encourage us, direct us as to what to do, where to go, what to say as He brings us through our storms and all the storms to come and on to the assignments He has waiting for each of us?
Will you listen and obey the gentle whisper?
John 10:27-28
"My sheep respond as they hear My voice; I know them intimately, and they follow Me. I give them a life that is unceasing, and death will not have the last word. Nothing or no one can steal them from My hand."
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