Elijah | At Water’s Edge

When You’re Scared

When was the last time you were afraid of something? Fear can affect us both mentally and physically. You can feel lightheaded, you probably feel your heart racing, maybe you experience a panic attack, or realize that your stomach is suddenly upset … the body manifests a multitude of reactions to fear.

Our 100 lb. dog had surgery last week that made her very wobbly when she came out of anesthesia. We had difficulty getting her in the van and up the stairs, resulting in her losing control of her back legs and possibly pulling a muscle or a tendon. For the next few days, she was afraid of steps. We realized this halfway up an exterior staircase at my father-in-law’s cottage, where her fear caused her to slip through the opening between steps . Fortunately she is large enough that she didn’t fall through, but she froze and refused to go any higher. It was a scary moment for the four of us as we tried to get her up the rest of the staircase. My heart was racing for the next 30 minutes. Being afraid is very strongly connected with feeling out of control, and nobody likes being out of control.

Today we read about the famous and successful Old Testament prophet, Elijah. We harken back to a time when right after a major victory, Elijah suddenly felt afraid and out of control:

I Kings 19:1-8 (Common English Bible)

19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, how he had killed all Baal’s prophets with the sword. ²Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with this message: “May the gods do whatever they want to me if by this time tomorrow I haven’t made your life like the life of one of them.”

³Elijah was terrified. He got up and ran for his life. He arrived at Beer-sheba in Judah and left his assistant there. ⁴He himself went farther on into the desert a day’s journey. He finally sat down under a solitary broom bush. He longed for his own death: “It’s more than enough, Lord! Take my life because I’m no better than my ancestors.” ⁵He lay down and slept under the solitary broom bush.

The contrast between the events in the previous passage, where Elijah single-handedly defeated the prophets of Baal, and this image of him cowering under a broom bush longing for death is stunning. It is a good reminder to us that even the strongest and most calm warrior can succumb to fear. The struggle is real.

Then suddenly a messenger tapped him and said to him, “Get up! Eat something!” ⁶Elijah opened his eyes and saw flatbread baked on glowing coals and a jar of water right by his head. He ate and drank, and then went back to sleep. ⁷The Lord’s messenger returned a second time and tapped him. “Get up!” the messenger said. “Eat something, because you have a difficult road ahead of you.” ⁸Elijah got up, ate and drank, and went refreshed by that food for forty days and nights until he arrived at Horeb, God’s mountain.

I love the interaction between the angel and Elijah. This angel wasn’t playin’. “Get up! Get up!” We think that someone having an “angelic voice” is a pleasant thing, but that is not what Elijah experienced. No, this angel sounded like a bullhorn in the pre-dawn hours that jolts you awake with its urgency.

“Get up!”

Is God calling you to get up and get moving? Is he trying to awaken you to an urgent situation that requires you to do something? Is the alarm clock going off and alerting you to change your behavior, your attitude, or your thoughts before it’s too late?

Wake up and eat the flatbread! You see, when God tells us to get up and get going, he always provides sustenance for the task and the journey.

So that thing that you have been avoiding, that idea that frightens the heck out of you, or that calling that has you wishing for the broom tree comes with the guarantee of God’s presence and provision.

You don’t have to be afraid.

Run For Your Life

Posted on August 2, 2021 by Betsy

Have you ever had to run for your life? I’m guessing that with the exception of the military and first responders, most of us have never been confronted with a situation that was so life-and-death threatening that we literally had to run. I have run for the train, run for an elevator, I have evacuated my home during a Cat 5 hurricane warning, and even run a half marathon. But I consider myself blessed that I have never had to run for my life.

As a child, I had persistent dreams that I was in some life-threatening situation where I had to run, only to discover that my feet were cemented to the street. Have you had that dream? These dreams involved oncoming tornadoes, War of the World alien intruders, or some other terrible thing. When the threat appeared, I would look down at my feet and realize that I was stuck to the ground, unable to flee.

I think that while most of us have probably not been in any physical danger that would cause us to run, some of us may struggle with mental or emotional threats that leave us feeling paralyzed. I know a woman who is so paralyzed by her anxiety and subsequent paranoia that she has retreated to a place on the opposite coast from her family and cannot engage with them. Some fear tells her to keep running from any relationship with them. In her mind, even the smallest interaction would entangle and trap her.

Fears like this are as real to the person as an actual tornado coming down the street.

Our story today involves the great prophet Elijah at a time when he had to run for his life:

1 Kings 19 (Common English Bible)

Elijah did what we need to do when we feel threatened: he got to a safe place and called on the Lord. Even though he felt he was at the end of his life because of the enormity of this threat looming over him, he knew to first call on God.

And God answered:

This story is a beautiful reminder that whenever we feel so threatened that we have to run, God is always there to provide safety, sustenance, and strength for the journey. Elijah received the ministrations of an angel and was given fresh baked flatbread and water…twice. God will provide what we need even in the worst circumstance if we remember to run toward him as we run away from the threat.

Are you running away from something? What are you running toward? When real threats come into your life, safety is the first concern. And remember that God is in every circumstance, running alongside of you until you reach safe harbor.

A Thin Quiet

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Betsy

Whether it comes through a miracle, science, medicine, or nature’s natural progression, we all anticipate what it will feel like to hear the words “the pandemic is over.” We have complete faith that we WILL hear it. What we don’t know is if it will take six more weeks, six more months, or six more years. (God forbid!)

In the meantime, we hide in our caves and wait.

In our scripture today, we find Elijah hiding in a cave, fearing for his life. He has been chased there by the anti God-ers who have murdered the prophets and are now after him.

1 Kings 19 (Common English Version)

⁹There he went into a cave and spent the night.

The Lord’s word came to him and said, “Why are you here, Elijah?”

¹⁰Elijah replied, “I’ve been very passionate for the Lord God of heavenly forces because the Israelites have abandoned your covenant. They have torn down your altars, and they have murdered your prophets with the sword. I’m the only one left, and now they want to take my life too!”

¹¹The Lord said, “Go out and stand at the mountain before the Lord. The Lord is passing by.” A very strong wind tore through the mountains and broke apart the stones before the Lord. But the Lord wasn’t in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake. But the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake. ¹²After the earthquake, there was a fire. But the Lord wasn’t in the fire.

We look to the strong winds of science to relieve us, but that hasn’t been accomplished just yet. We sit through an earthquake of medical advancements toward a vaccine, but so far, no joy. Even the fire of public policy that requires masks, hand-washing, lockdowns, and 6 feet of social distancing hasn’t eradicated this virus from the earth. Are all these things capable of slowing the rising curve? Yes. Is it happening fast enough? No.

After the fire, there was a sound. Thin. Quiet. ¹³When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his coat. He went out and stood at the cave’s entrance. A voice came to him and said, “Why are you here, Elijah?”

I think this is how the pandemic will end. Science and medicine are making great strides. Public policy is slowing things down and keeping us safe. But after throwing every human resource known to man toward solving it with a great show of wind, earth-moving, and fire, we still aren’t there yet. There will be a moment where God will speak it out of existence in a thin, quiet voice. But will we be able to hear him? In the end, as it is with everything that matters, we need God to save us.

¹⁴He said, “I’ve been very passionate for the Lord God of heavenly forces because the Israelites have abandoned your covenant. They have torn down your altars, and they have murdered your prophets with the sword. I’m the only one left, and now they want to take my life too.”

God’s thin, quiet word saved Elijah. His thin, quiet word will save us, too. We just need to shut up all the SHOUTING at each other long enough to listen.

¹⁵The Lord said to him, “Go back through the desert to Damascus and anoint Hazael as king of Aram. ¹⁶Also anoint Jehu, Nimshi’s son, as king of Israel; and anoint Elisha from Abel-meholah, Shaphat’s son, to succeed you as prophet. ¹⁷Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill. Whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. ¹⁸But I have preserved those who remain in Israel, totaling seven thousand—all those whose knees haven’t bowed down to Baal and whose mouths haven’t kissed him.”

God preserves those who remain faithful and wait. Will you be numbered among the faithful?

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