Encounters in times of need

“…and after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?” I Kings 19:12,13.

One of the greatest power encounter stories in the whole bible is the confrontation between Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal on mount Carmel. You know the story where he put it all on the line and tested the Lord with a simple prayer that brought down fire on the altar and resulted in a grisly execution scene of the pagan priests.  What a spiritual high! What mileage made for the Kingdom!  The long drought was over and rain poured down on them all at Elijah’s word! Imagine the emotional output of this scene!

At mount Carmel, Elijah didn’t fear king Ahab or the pagan priests – I think he was prepared to die there for the cause of the true God. But when victory came, priests were annihilated, Ahab debased and now rain came, I think he wanted now to live. On the heels of this came the dire oath of Jezebel – ‘by this time tomorrow you will be a dead man!!’

And suddenly he feels fear – irrational fear – as a novel I read so aptly puts it: “His mind was under siege, the twin barbarians of fear and fatigue at the gates.” And so he ran – and ran.

I love the story of Carmel, but maybe I relate more to what happened next, for the reaction of Elijah is sometimes our reaction, even though we have walked with the Lord for a long time. We are somehow caught unaware by the enemy and our first instinct is to run. We forget all the Lord has done and we feel fear and aloneness. When Ann Landers had a newspaper column that people wrote to for advice, she typically received 10,000 letters a month. When asked for the greatest common theme, she said ‘fear.’

You may have been a Christian for a long time – seen God work in wonderful ways. Maybe you have been healed, or seen a loved one come to Christ, or received miraculous provision at just the right time. But something has come along out of left field, and you are filled with fear. Read all of I Kings 19 and see how God treated Elijah. He prepared a nice warm meal in the desert; he sent an angel to rouse him, and he gave him stamina to go all the way to mount Horeb. Yes, God had thundered at Carmel – in the past He had thundered at Horeb. The Lord can operate in these ways – he is all powerful after all. But at this time, Elijah had a need to know that God saw and loved him, so God whispered in his ear. The Lord let him voice his complaint – get it all out. And then He said – I have a job for you to do – anoint Hazael and Jehu (the cause of the end of Jezebel), anoint Elisha to be with you as your understudy, and know that there are 7000 people just like you in the country – you are not alone.

So, brother or sister – know that you are loved even in your time of fear. So much so that the Son paid your death penalty to prove it. He is not alarmed by your complaint or by the results of what lies before – His rod and staff comfort you even in the dark valley of the shadow of death.

Mary Baker wrote these wonderful lines 150 years ago:

“The winds and the waves shall obey my will – peace be still

Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea, or demons or men or whatever it be

No water can swallow the ship where lies the Master of ocean and earth and skies

They all shall sweetly obey My will; Peace be still, peace be still

They all shall sweetly obey My will; peace peace be still.”

Pastor Leon Throness

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