a Love Story – a Whisper – February 10

a LOVE STORY
February 10, 2021

a Whisper

1 Kings 19:11-13, ‘Then he was told, “Go, stand on the mountain at attention before God. God will pass by.” A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake, fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire, a gentle and quiet whisper. When Elijah heard the quiet voice, he muffled his face with his great cloak, went to the mouth of the cave, and stood there. A quiet whisper asked, “So Elijah, now tell me, what are you doing here?” (MSG)’

The man of God had accomplished much on behalf of His Master. Like a bystander, the Lord God had listened to the worship of idols by the people He had created for Himself, had watched their kiss land on the faces of false gods. He wanted to throw His hands up in the air; these false gods didn’t create the beings out of nothing nor breathe life into their lungs. These idols did not even have air in their lungs to breathe, but the people still chose their falseness and nihility over His realness and closeness. The weight of sorrow and frustration over the idol worship was crushing. But He reminded Himself, they were but flesh, a passing wind, here then gone. It grieved Him that no matter how much He did for His creation, it was never enough for them to seek His face and His alone. If they didn’t like what their Creator provided for them, they hollered at their images, believing a lie.

Elijah, however, was different; he was instrumental and obedient, and it pleased God. He spoke to the rain and it dried up, and He summoned it to return at His Master’s direction, and it fell in abundance. Where He sent him, Elijah would go. And when the time came, he gathered the hard-headed, stubborn children of Israel, who had turned their face from the one true God to instead worship Baal, their false god and to his prophets. Elijah demanded they choose who they would continue forward to follow. He had demanded, “How long must you waver between these two opinions?! If it is God who is the Lord, follow Him; if it is Baal, follow him.” But the people refused to answer so the Master’s servant served them up proof their hearts would have to digest.

They summoned their gods to no avail; then Elijah mocked their false gods, putting them to the test, and when the people cried even more dramatically to their gods, no voice returned, only silence.

It was genius, really. Elijah then declared to the one true God, and the Lord God answered by fire, teamwork! and the children of Israel were astonished. They fell to their knees to worship Him as Master, seeing their Creator as if for the first time, while Elijah destroyed all the false gods, a great number, the people had been following.

Now this. This servant, whose boldness was blameless, whose faithfulness was fertile, whose trust was tenacious, the Master finds him here, shrunken and disheartened in a cave. Why are His people always hiding themselves from Him, He wonders forlornly? Don’t they know; haven’t they realized He is everywhere; nothing is concealed from His knowing? So God seeks the heart of His being and it greatly troubles Him as He realizes that this great man is not running from the threats of pagan rulers; it’s not a flight of fright nor is he even hiding from His Creator. But sadly, the Lord realizes Elijah is experiencing the same discouragement, the same desolate desperation as He; that even though the false gods have been annihilated, really, has anything even changed? The same perverseness still pervades the hearts of humanity and this love He has for His beings will continue to be ignored. The hurt is so transparent when seen through His servant’s eyes and it saddens Him deeply. He passes by the cave, and He whispers, “Elijah.”

During the month of February,
come with me as we JOURNEY through
the greatest LOVE STORY ever written.