Like Elijah, I find that trouble, pain, and temptation sometimes drown out God in my mind and heart.
In a sense, I run away from God.
But God can't be driven away. He is in me.
And, in the end, he speaks to me.
For Elijah, we read in 1 Kings 19 that God spoke to the prophet in a still, small voice as he stood on Mount Sinai. For me, it may be a prompting in my mind, or something in a book I'm reading, or a Bible passage, or a word from a friend.
The story of Elijah is instructive. After defeating the prophets of Baal in a dramatic, supernatural encounter on Mount Carmel, Queen Jezebel threatens him with death.
Elijah, who has stood up to powerful opposition all his life, suddenly fears for his life and runs away. Normally, the prophet goes to God first for help - but, this time, he runs.
Exhausted and deeply depressed, he arrives near Mount Sinai in the desert and asks God to take his life.
Now, ready to hear, he is instructed to go to the top of the mountain. There God questions him in a quiet voice and gives him his marching orders. Rather than taking Elijah's life, he shows his confidence in the prophet by giving him more work to do.
Sometimes, we are like Elijah and willfully ignore God in our crises. Perhaps we feel our problems are too big for God to resolve. Or, we don't want God to tell us to take a different course than we have planned for ourselves.
But God will be heard. When he speaks, we need to listen.
We hear much better if we are in the habit of praying and communing with God like Elijah. Many people have benefited from "practicing the presence of God" - easy conversational prayers with God as we go through our days.
As we pray regularly, we begin to connect the dots between something said yesterday and our concern today. We hear God speak.
In a sense, I run away from God.
But God can't be driven away. He is in me.
And, in the end, he speaks to me.
For Elijah, we read in 1 Kings 19 that God spoke to the prophet in a still, small voice as he stood on Mount Sinai. For me, it may be a prompting in my mind, or something in a book I'm reading, or a Bible passage, or a word from a friend.
The story of Elijah is instructive. After defeating the prophets of Baal in a dramatic, supernatural encounter on Mount Carmel, Queen Jezebel threatens him with death.
Elijah, who has stood up to powerful opposition all his life, suddenly fears for his life and runs away. Normally, the prophet goes to God first for help - but, this time, he runs.
Exhausted and deeply depressed, he arrives near Mount Sinai in the desert and asks God to take his life.
Now, ready to hear, he is instructed to go to the top of the mountain. There God questions him in a quiet voice and gives him his marching orders. Rather than taking Elijah's life, he shows his confidence in the prophet by giving him more work to do.
Sometimes, we are like Elijah and willfully ignore God in our crises. Perhaps we feel our problems are too big for God to resolve. Or, we don't want God to tell us to take a different course than we have planned for ourselves.
But God will be heard. When he speaks, we need to listen.
We hear much better if we are in the habit of praying and communing with God like Elijah. Many people have benefited from "practicing the presence of God" - easy conversational prayers with God as we go through our days.
As we pray regularly, we begin to connect the dots between something said yesterday and our concern today. We hear God speak.
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