Then the angel of the Lord came again to Elijah and touched him and said eat some more, for their is a long journey ahead of you. So he got and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Horeb, the "Mountain of God", where he lived in a cave.
What are you doing here Elijah?" He replied, " I have worked very hard for the Lord God of the heavens; but the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you and torn down your altars and killed your prophets, and only I am left; and now they are trying to kill me too."
" Go out and stand on the mountain," the Lord told him. and as Elijah stood there the Lord passed by, and a mighty wind storm hit the mountain; it was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose.After the wind their was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. and after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, their was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his scarf and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. and a voice said, " Why are you here, Elijah?"
In the Old Testament reading (1Kings) we are on Horeb, it is another name for Mt. Sinai. It's a sacred place, associated with Moses and the law. Remember the powerful displays of God with Moses? Now there is another great figure on the mountain and God is there to meet him. but, this is an encounter of another kind. Elijah is scared, running away from Ahab and Jezebel. He was rather spectacular confronting hundreds of prophets of Baal in a test of their god against his. His God won. He was fiery prophet; Gods fiery tongue. He had in confrontation with the priests, confronted the nation's superstitions and false religious practices.
For his boldness he was under threat and was on the lamb, hiding from the pursuing forces. He is afraid and has fled to a cave on Horeb. God calls him out. But God is not in the terrible wind that crushes rocks. The prophet does not need that kind of God at this stage of his life! Nor is God in the earthquake, or lighting. Maybe the prophet would have been overwhelmed by all that. Instead,God
is in the tiny whispering sound. In the quiet of the eye of the hurricane he was facing, Elijah heard the still voice of God at this stage of his life and that was enough for him to Go back to his prophetic task. A voice strong enough to strengthen frightened prophets comes in a whisper. God knows how and when to speak to us. And we need to hear this voice if we are to persevere in the prophetic tasks to which we have been called. We may have spoken out on our behalf of someone who is victimized at work or on the playground. We may be showing God' care for someone who is dependent on our being there for them. We may be teaching the young to be honest and fair in their dealings with all people. Whatever the prophetic witness, we all grow tired, doubtful, and, at times afraid. Here is a God who knows how to come and meet us and takeaway our weakness in our determination to serve God and God's people. Christ has spent a lot of time doing Good; but He prayed a lot. he had to get away for awhile. How do we hear this God of Elijah? Maybe in the midst of our own storms, but in disguises, in what appears to be so ordinary and commonplace. At this time we discover our strength, when we take a moment of quiet time in our lives. We sense the presence of the strong God of Horeb who has seen our need, and responded appropriately. Even though Christ had to get away for a while from all his hectic activity someone was waiting for him, and in this place of meeting he was renewed. He prays on mountains, out in the desert, on the other side of the lake as in the (Text: Matt.14: 22-33.) prayer at the important moments seem to have given him resolve and direction. We must find our own place to pray. God may be waiting to enter our life in a whisper and, if so, we will have to listen intently to hear. Storms also come to good people, Struggles doing what we think God wants us to do, are not a sign we are doing something wrong. Guided by the troubles Elijah has gotten himself into, we might say, doing what God wants us to do will cause trouble. Then that is the time for "Good News", of Jesus to come to our aid in the midst of our crisis.
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