30 Days with the Word – January 30

30 Days with THE WORD
January 30, 2021

John 1:1-2, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He (the Word) was in the beginning with God (NKJV).’

1 Kings 19:9-13, ‘And there he went into a cave and spent a night in that place; and behold, the Word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” Then He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces 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 still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Have you ever found yourself in a cave? Have you ever felt as if you needed to slink to the back reaches of the darkest cavern, bury your face and hide? Perhaps you were driven there, a brood of bogeymen or covey of poor choices advancing upon you. Maybe though like Elijah, weary and forlorn, you trudged inside to escape what you could face no longer.

How is it that this prophet of God, who had spoken the rain out of existence by one sentence, who had defeated single-handedly the entire force of 450 prophets of the false god Baal, who had beckoned the rain once more so it fell, outran chariots, was fed by the hand of God, was zealous for the Lord God, found himself buried in the confines of a cave with the language of death upon his tongue and dread in his heart?

Even in his devastation, the Lord God met him in that place. And he will meet you too, no matter what cave you may be hidden in. Elijah had spoken so much promise and hope into being, had accomplished so much for his God, but he still found himself dismal and done. I think there is a covenant that you can come out of your cave with, a promise you can wrap around your waist and a hope you can gird your fear with, knowing that even warriors, even prophets, even great men of God cry swollen tears too and long to give up. And God still meets us where we are, not in treacherous and tumultuous acts of attention but in the stillness of His whisper. Why? Because He is just that close to you in your cavern.

This God, you can take Him at His Word. Guaranteed.