“What are you doing here, Elijah?”
After God sends fire down from heaven to burn up not just
the sacrifice, but also lap up the water filling the trench around the altar,
all of the prophets of Baal are killed.
They had led so many Israelites to commit “adultery” (as God put it)
with this horrible foreign god. Instead
of rejoicing and working to return Israel to the true worship of Almighty God,
when Elijah finds out that evil Queen Jezebel is out to get him, he tucks in
his tail and runs to hide in a cave. God
asks Elijah the question above twice.
The first time, when He first confronts Elijah, He simply asks the
question. The second time, God sends a
gushing wind, a crushing earthquake, then a consuming fire- “but God was not in”
them. When God called to him with a
“gentle whisper,” Elijah uses his cloak to cover his face. The Lord God asks again, “What are you doing
here, Elijah?” He knew it was the voice of Almighty God. (Read
the whole amazing story in I Kings 18 and 19.)
One time I had a Mslm young man tell me that his sacred book
says that God cannot have a son. I asked
him, “Do you believe that God is Almighty?”
He answered, “Of course!” Then I
asked him, “If you believe that, then how can you say there is something that
God cannot do?” He did not know what to
answer to that. There is, my friends,
absolutely NOTHING Almighty God can’t do! There are even Christ-followers that
try to say that God doesn’t work like this anymore, God doesn’t do that, blah
blah blah…. Hey, guys, God can do anything He wants to do and however He wants.
We don’t get to dictate how He works! Please do not make the mistake of
defining God in human terms, as my young friend did.
It is so easy for us to condemn Elijah for hiding in a cave,
Peter for sinking into the sea, and Thomas for doubting the resurrection, among
others of the “cloud of witnesses” that have come before us. But, what about our own lack of faith? I am preaching to myself here. I have seen God work miraculously in my life
and have encountered His Presence in supernatural ways time and time again, but
there are dark moments in my walk with Him that I duck my heavy head and hide
in a cave.
I believe with all of my being that God is Almighty. Nothing is impossible with Him! Glory be to God! But, I take unfortunate detours when, though
I may have just seen fire come down from heaven (well, not literally, but you
know what I mean), I’m hiding, wanting to get away from the difficulties of
life, lamenting with an occasional “Woe is me!”
It is in that moment, when my Almighty, all-consuming God
comes to me with His gentle, soft whisper and asks, “What are you doing here?”
I love that worship song that says, the “same power that conquered the grave lives
in me, lives in me!”
I need to sing it over and over again. Ultimately, regardless of my circumstance, I
serve a God that conquered death. This
is something that man has never been able to do. Oh yeah, we’ve been to the circus and turned
on the TV to watch stunt people do what they call “death-defying acts.” But, really, no one has ever defied death but
our Almighty God.
Why are we, then, hiding out in the cave of our doubt?
I am not calling for anyone to pull up your bootstraps and
just get over it. No, I know myself and
the frailty of my faith. There are times
when I frantically look at my situation and say, like the distraught father in
Mark 9, “Lord, I DO believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” All it takes is stepping out in our feeble
faith, and allow our Almighty God to not only work a mind-blowing miracle to
our situation, but also work a miracle by growing the faith that we lack.
We need to declare to ourselves, “My Almighty God CONQUERED
THE GRAVE!” So, in the midst of it all,
we know that nothing is too difficult for Him.
And, the even greater thing is, our Almighty God tenderly loves us and
asks gently,
“What are you doing here, (insert your name)?”
Come on, fellow cave-dweller, believe in the Lord God who
conquered the grave and allow Him to gently coax you out of that cave. Don’t shrink back in shame and fear. Be willing to walk, even timidly, but take
that step, believing that He is able to do what needs to be done- for your good
and for His glory.
Same power that conquered the grave lives in me, lives in me.
Your love that rescued the earth lives in me, lives in me.
Your love that rescued the earth lives in me, lives in me.
-from “You are Here”, Hillsong London
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