Wow! I should have taken the time to comment on yesterday's readings. Yesterday we had the conclusion of the book of Job, and poor old Job is finally restored! We also read about Elijah defeating the prophets of Baal. Isn't that a fun story! (fun might not be the most appropriate word, but I'll use it anyway).
But we have great readings today (and everyday!) as well. We'll catch a few psalms as we finish 1 Kings. We'll start a NT epistle along with 2 Kings. It makes it easy for me to remember where we are when we are in the same chapters in the different books. : ) So...
Read Psalm 130
Read 1 Kings 19
I wish I could know what the whisper sounded like, or what the whisper said. What was it like to hear that voice, after enduring the wind, the fire, and the earthquake? What incredible events in Elijah's life!
And what do we make of it all? A lot of people will use this story to say that we should quiet distractions and take the time to listen to God. True, except what is that "listening" like? Lots of people claim they can hear an audible voice of God. Or, rather, they attribute their impulses in instincts and intuition as God talking to them. So we hear a lot of people say, "God told me..." and "God said...". I'm perfectly comfortable with that, as long as what comes next is a Bible verse. Otherwise, I'm uncomfortable with it.
I'm not saying that God can't talk audibly, or guide and direct you, or anything like that. But God doesn't ordinarily work that way! We are promised that God speaks to us through Scripture. We have no promise apart from that. So, how can you know that what you think or feel is from God? I've known people to walk into an interview and say, "God told me I was going to get this job." They didn't get the job. So then what? Was God wrong?
We have to get used to the ordinary means through which God works. We also have to get used to accepting his promises. Elijah was directed to eat and drink under the broom tree. He did. God used that food to strengthen him for a 40 day journey. Ordinary eating and drinking did extraordinary things. And God didn't use the cataclysmic shaking of the earth to reveal a great and glorious message to Elijah. He used a low, small voice. And the message was one of hope. The remnant would not be destroyed. God had preserved 7,000 faithful. God's promises continue. Kings shall be anointed to do God's work. Another prophet will be raised up to support and succeed Elijah. God still reigns. God still reveals his plans.
I think we'd love for God to shake things up, to speak from a whirlwind or from a fire (which he did, by the way, for Job and Moses, but not Elijah and not for us!). We'd love for God to use the obviously miraculous to encourage and support us. He uses the miraculous, all right. But it is the "ordinary" miracles that he has promised. Baptism doesn't look all that flashy. Communion looks like regular eating and drinking - and a meager snack at that. The preaching in the Church is regular guys talking in regular ways (can we captivate like Hollywood can?). But through these ordinary things, God whispers his encouragement, his hope, and his forgiveness into our lives.
And why wouldn't he? He used ordinary blood shed on a primitive instrument of torture (the cross) to redeem us. God has a good track record of using the ordinary to do the extraordinarily miraculous. Thanks be to God!
Ask Yourself:
Do I sometimes doubt God's ordinary means? Am I hoping for the extraordinary, when the miraculous is already given to me?
Am I discouraged as Elijah was? How can I continue on?
How can I better wait for the Lord and hope in his Word, as Psalm 130 states?
Pray:
O Lord, thank you for using the ordinary to do extraordinary things. Thank you even for using me to do your work. Purify my soul, and cleans my lips and hands, that I may speak and serve as I ought. Thank you for the redemption that is mine through your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Study with me tomorrow,
Pastor Jon
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