Gentle Breezes
March 16, 2010

1 Kings 19:9-13
9Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 10He said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." 11So He said, "Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD " And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks 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. 12After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. 13When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave And behold, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

As I read this passage today, I was so blessed by it, especially with the recent reports of earthquakes and natural disasters across the globe. Sometime, the church community is so quick to assume that God is punishing us or that the end of the world is near because Jesus warned us about earthquakes. While that may be true, it may not necessarily be the case. We will just have to wait to see.

What I personally like about this passage is what the Lord was trying to teach Elijah during this time. In fact, I think that the Lord is trying to teach all of us this as well today. To give you some background, the story picks up in the aftermath of a miraculous sign that the Lord used to show the Israelites and the baal prophets that the Lord was the One true God. When confronted by baal worship in the region following the marriage of Ahab (King of Israel) to Jezebel (a Phoenician princess and daughter of Ethbaal who, according to Jewish scholar Josephus, murdered his predecessor to become king), Elijah was infuriated and was sent by God to confront the baal worship. During that time, baal was considered the storm god responsible for crop fertilization. This worship infuriated the Lord, so He sent a three and a half year drought on the land.

To get to the point, Elijah gathered all the Israelites and the baal prophets (as well as the Asherah prophets) numbering 850 total and told them to cry out to their god and have him send fire on their offering. When their god did not, Elijah cried out to the Lord and the Lord sent fire on Elijah's offering in order to show the people that He was the One true God. Scripture says that when this happened, the people fell down on their faces before the Lord and Elijah slew all the baal prophets.

When Jezebel heard of what Elijah did, she burned with anger and told Elijah that she would have him killed the next day, so Elijah fled. This is where this above passage picks up.

Elijah is scared. Here he is, he just fulfilled the Lord's wishes to restore the people to Himself with a tremendous personal risk to himself and was fearful that the Lord was not going to protect him or work things out (even though the Lord just scorched a water-logged sacrifice right in front of his eyes). So, what does he do? He hides. In a cave. He must have been really scared! Elijah is upset because not only could he be killed, but he feels as though all "his" work for the Lord was in vain since because Jezebel was unrelenting and hardened despite the miracle. She refused to turn and trust the true God. So, what does God do? He 1) shows Elijah his power yet again with a strong wind that literally broke the mountains into pieces, an earthquake, and a fire; 2) Scripture says that "the LORD was not in the wind" so clearly He sent them to get Elijah's attention and to force him out of the cave or out of his fear state and to announce His coming; 3) the Lord revealed Himself to Elijah through the sound of a gently breeze blowing past.

How many times do we act like this? We don't trust the Lord and fail to recognize His hand at work despite the fact that He has delivered us so many times before. So, what do we do? We assume He is not at work. I think the Lord was trying to reveal to Elijah that He will always be faithful to complete His work, and many times this may be imperceivable to humans. We must trust that the Lord is faithful and just and will work out His perfect plan for His glory and our good. It may not be in an earthquaking experience, but it may come in a faint gently breeze that forces us out of the caves where Satan loves us to be, and into the glorious presence of the Lord.

Let's spend today reflecting on the times when God uses light breezes to change our lives and work His purposes! :)

xoxo,
Ashley