Too Many Words

Sometimes there are too many words.  Right now, everyone is seeking words of comfort, words of information, words of humor, words of distraction.  We are looking for words under every stone—in every video clip and news article.  We are looking to the government, church leaders, and each other.  We are frantically looking for words and compulsively communicating words.  But sometimes, there are just too many.  Sometimes we just need to be quiet and sit still and let God speak.  None of us need to hear from each other right now, we need to hear from God.  And the only way to do that is to be quiet and seek His presence.

At 1 Kings 19:9-18, we have an account of the prophet Elijah.  After Elijah called down fire from heaven on Mt. Carmel and defeated the priests of Baal, Queen Jezebel put a bounty on his head to be executed.  We are told that Elijah “ran for his life” and went “into the wilderness” and asked God to just let him die (19:3,4).  Elijah was tired of fighting, he was tired of running, he had served God faithfully and all he had to show for it was a bounty on his head, so he asked God to just finish the job Himself and give his soul rest.  God sent an angel to Elijah to give him food because the journey that lay ahead of Elijah was too great to travel in his own strength.  Elijah would never make it without God’s help, “so he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.” (19:8).

Once Elijah got to Mt. Horeb, he was completely alone, cut off from the world and everyone, and God basically said, “Okay, now what is it?  What’s the problem, Elijah?  Here I am, tell me what you want.”  So Elijah pours out his heart to God, he just lays it all out from his perspective:  I’ve served You faithfully, people aren’t listening to me, they are increasing in sin, they’ve killed all your prophets, I’m the only one left that is faithful to You, and now they want to kill me too, AND EVERYTHING IS FALLING APART AND I AM FALLING APART AND GOD I JUST DON’T EVEN KNOW……”  Elijah had just hit a wall and couldn’t see any way around it.  So, God told him to get out of his cave and go stand on the mountain alone, completely exposed.  No words of comfort, no words of assurance, Elijah was already fearful and God told him to leave his sheltered place and stand completely vulnerable before Him.  That wasn’t really the answer Elijah was expecting, so he just stayed in his cave.

 

As Elijah cowered in the cave, God passed by and it caused “a great and strong wind” that crumbled the mountain rocks into pieces; then an earthquake; then a fire; and we are told that God’s presence was not in the wind, earthquake or fire.  Those were just the effects of His presence, but “the Lord was not in the wind…the Lord was not in the earthquake…the Lord was not in the fire” (19:11,12).  But after the fire, there was “a sound of a gentle blowing” and when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face and went and stood at the entrance of the cave and peeked out, and that is when God spoke to Him again, “What are you doing here Elijah?” (19:12,13).  Again, God did not give him words of comfort or assurance.  He asked Elijah to search his heart and explain what he wanted from God and why.  What are you looking for Elijah?  What are you really seeking?  What do you really want from Me?

And when we see Elijah’s response, we see again, that Elijah didn’t really ask God for anything, he just repeated his same complaint:  “Everything is falling apart and I’m gonna die.”  I think it is noteworthy that God’s way of comforting Elijah was not to respond with words of comfort, but words of assurance that He is sovereign and in control.  God never pacified Elijah, He simply asked him to examine his own motives, then gave him instructions for further service.  God told Elijah that He was going to judge Israel for their sin, that there would be another prophet to help Elijah, that many people were going to die, but there would be a faithful remnant left.  That was God’s answer. 

Sometimes we will get to a place in our lives where the journey that lays ahead of us is too great to travel in our own strength, and the only way we will be able to do it is by the bread of heaven.  Even then, we may find that our journey leads us to a place where God asks us to look at our own heart, to examine our own motives.  We want God, but then God brings us to a place where He asks us, “Why do you want me?”  We find that instead of giving us comfort, He brings us to a place of examination.  “What are you looking for?  What are you really seeking?”  And sometimes we find out that God’s way of comforting us is to simply remind us that He is sovereign and in control, even when the world seems to be falling apart, even though we may go through the wind, earthquake and fire.  He doesn’t save us from the wind, earthquake and fire, but He will walk through it with us and speak to us in a still small voice if we get quiet and sit still and let Him speak.