Time Alone With God

Strengthened by the food the angel gave him, the Bible says that Elijah traveled 40 days to the mountain of God, Mt. Sinai. There he came to a cave and spent the night. In the morning God came and asked what Elijah was doing there. And Elijah starts a pity-party. "I'm the only one left that is faithful and now they are trying to kill me too."

God told him to go stand in the mouth of the cave, and suddenly a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. Rocks were flying everywhere. But Elijah didn't sense the presence of God in the windstorm. Then there was an earthquake. No God there either. Then a huge fire. Not here either.

Then a gentle, quiet whisper and when Elijah heard it he covered his face with his cloak. What was God's point? Sometimes we look for a massive display of power to convince us that God is God, or to prove to others that He exists. We pray for that massive miracle that will allow our loved one to live or a great miracle that will allow our circumstances to change. And sometimes God answers that way. He did with the fire on Mt. Carmel.

But that's not usually His M.O. Typically, God is more about the gentle, quiet relationship with you that will allow you to trust Him and know that He is there for you even in the midst of your storm. Perhaps we should stop looking for the supernatural deliverance and go more for the supernatural friendship.

Elijah heard that gentle whisper and instantly covered his face. He KNEW he was in the presence of God. Ever have one of those experiences? You can't really explain how you know, but you just KNOW that God is present. Elijah covered his face with his cloak and then God asked him the same question he had asked before: What are you doing here Elijah?

In other words: I sent you to Ahab, I sent you to Zaraphath, I sent you to Mt. Carmel...but I didn't send you here. What are you doing here?

Elijah, probably not even fully aware of his motive, gave God the exact same answer that he had given before...but instead of in self-pity, his voice was probably more of the tone: "Would you believe?" Would you believe that I have been very zealous for the Lord?

We often start out angry and in self-pity, but when we encounter God, we end up trying to preserve our own dignity and we find out that our answers sound pretty hollow.

I think Elijah ran to Mt. Sinai because he was so exhausted that he inwardly knew he needed to encounter God once again. He knew the Sinai was called the mountain of God. He knew it was from this very mountain that God had spoken to the people of Israel centuries before. He knew that Moses had spoken intimately with God on top of this mountain. But when asked why, all he could resort to was: "I've been very zealous for the Lord and all the other prophets are dead and they are seeking to kill me too."

Some things never change. Too many times, in my exhaustion, I try to deflect any attention to the condition of my heart by presenting my works. What I really need in those times, is time alone with God. 

And if I'm not missing my guess, that's what you need too. May He grant you that time today. And may you take that time today.