The God Who Is There!

​1 Kings 19: 1 – 18.
 
Elijah, in a sudden turn of events, escaped to the desert after having initially outran King Ahab’s chariot back to Jezreel. The hoped for victory in Jezreel he expected having defeated and slaughtered the Baal prophets on Mount Carmel did not materialise against Ahab and Jezebel. Following Queen Jezebel’s threat to kill him within 24 hours, Elijah immediately fled and eventually found himself in a cave on Mount Horeb. He became despondent, depressed, and pugnacious towards God for not following through with his expectations. In despair, he had resigned his commission as a prophet and was ready for his life to be forfeited (1Kings 18:1 – 19:8). What does God do? 
 
No words were exchanged. There was a total absence of blame or reproach, nor was there moralizing, or even a necessity for prayer. For forty days, the angel just prepared food for him, touched him from his slumber, and encouraged him to eat. God’s profound empathy for Elijah was to be silent and attentive to his needs; perfectly in tune with his physical, emotional and spiritual requirements. Elijah drew his own conclusions on his earlier escapades, but what preoccupied God was that he gets back on his feet once again. Twice God asked, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1Kings 19:9, 13). Since He knows everything that goes on, the question’s facetiousness belies Divine intent: invariably, God’s wisdom when He questions us is usually not about eliciting information from us, but for us to discern our motivations or beliefs on life, by listening to ourselves, as we ruminate on our answers (c.f., 1Kings 19:9-10; 13-14). 
 
As Creator, God expresses Himself through His creation, and at times He chooses to ‘speak through’ them throughout the Old and New Testaments. Here, in His interaction with Elijah, God is informing Elijah that it is His prerogative to speak through whatever media He might choose, whether it is through ‘the angel of the Lord,’ the raging wind, an earthquake, or a fire; even though He may not speak through them. Finally, He spoke through a sound of a gentle blowing or ‘a still, small voice’ (1Kings 19:11-12). That articulated whisper captured the essential nature of God in His approach to Elijah and on many other occasions, despite his ego-centrism and complaints against Him (1Kings 19:10, 14). Elijah’s presumptuousness at premeditating God’s will at the outcome of his encounter with Jezebel and Ahab formed the basis for his disappointment. God, characteristically, is in the habit of keeping His own counsel. Here, He informed Elijah to leave his pouting and to find three individuals - a pagan Syrian called Hazael, to anoint him king over Aram; Jehu, to anoint him king over Israel; and Elisha, as his successor. Furthermore, Elijah was not the only one faithful to God, there were 7,000 others who had not bowed the knee to Baal; that took care of Elijah’s misplaced haughtiness! (1Kings 19:15-18). It is always arrogant for us to attempt to ‘mind-read’ God’s intentions or to delegate outcomes to Him when He has not spoken about them explicitly. Nevertheless, God’s humility is evidenced as He handled Elijah’s impertinence. 
 
Instead of our customary anticipation of God’s interaction with man through ‘the fire, earthquake and storm,’ His ‘still small voice’ challenges our spiritual ability to listen with anticipation. God’s lesson for Elijah was that the dramatic demonstration of His power at Mount Carmel was not His interventional norm, and he should not expect it to continue definitively. His gracious quiet promptings which always falls back on His Word, the Holy Scriptures, is the Holy Spirit’s typical mode in communicating with us (c.f., Luke 16:19-31); no dramatics or anything out of the ordinary. We need to learn how to recognise and give attention to His quiet, unassuming and discreet promptings.