Elijah: 1 Kings 17,19

Elijah is one of Israel’s most dramatic prophets. Saving the Widow with an endless supply of flour & oil, raising her son from the dead and calling down fire from heaven on his pursuers, it reads like a Hollywood screen play.

Amongst the almost theatrical are heart felt stories of the dichotomies of lifes challenges. The widow is thankful for the miraculous salvation but then is gripped with fear when her son suddenly dies. The same hand that had dealt her great favor was now the hand that was bent on her destruction. Was it a test of her faith? Was it an opportunity for Elijah to learn? Or was it a greater lesson that all the Lord does for us - is for our good, even when to looks to us like a tragedy?

As a young prophet Elijah was fearless in confronting the wicked King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. But later on in his life despite numerous miracles and spectacular preservation by the Lord, Elijah found himself alone and afraid. In a cave in Horeb hiding from his pursuers, the Lord came to find him and teach him an important lesson. The wind came, the earthquakes came, and the fires came but the Lord was not in them. Then the still small voice came, and Elijah heard it, got comfort and was prepared to do what the Lord wanted him to do.

Sometimes we can be so sure in our beliefs that we are willing to do anything for them. In fact it can seem that our faith is unshakeable. But things start to change, we age our health decines, tragedy strikes, we find ourselves alone, we lose our jobs, our confidence is undermined, we become worried about the future, and what we once thought as sure suddenly feels very distant.  In these moments it can feel like the Lord has abandoned us that he is done with blessing us, we have been cast aside and passed over for the rising generation, not much use anymore. Winds, earthquakes and fires may also come and in these big events we still can’t feel the Lord. Yet in the still small voice we can be renewed, in His small presence we can be revisited, restored to ourselves once more and even elevated to greater faith and dedication.

It is these moments, gethsemane moments, that we grow the most, transform from caterpillar to butterfly, and become all that we are destined to become.

Elijah hides in a cave on Mt Horeb