What is Here for You?

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What Is Here For You?

Begin to move ahead. Right after I graduated from the 8^th grade I found myself without much to do. So, on a day when I was very bored I rode my bike down to school. That was the very place I wanted to be free from a couple of weeks earlier. But I found myself on my bike riding to school. I went on the swings and on the jungle gym. I found a basketball and shot some hoops. But it didn’t take long for me to realize that there was nothing there for me at that school anymore. And I’m not just speaking about the fact that there was nothing fun to do there anymore. I ‘m also speaking about the fact that I had outgrown that place. It was time for me to begin to move ahead. And I knew it. In the words we look at this morning, the Lord asks Elijah a question. He asks him, “what is here for you?”¹ }} Elijah had collapsed. Mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, he had collapsed. And how it happened was important to speak about. Elijah had had a showdown with the prophets of Baal. Elijah had set up a test. He, the one prophet of the Lord would set up an altar with wood on it. The 450 prophets of Baal would set up an altar. And the God who set the wood on fire was the true God. The prophets of Baal tried, but failed. And with one prayer, the Lord answered with fire from the sky. It devoured the altar and all the water around it. Elijah urged the people to put the 450 prophets of baal to death. And they listened. And then shockingly and suddenly, everything changed for Elijah. Queen Jezebel found out about her prophets being put to death. And she sent a messenger to Elijah threatening and promising to take his life. And Elijah who was so strong and so faithful on that day collapsed. He ran for his life in fear and terror at Jezebel’s words.

And the question we ask is this: why? Why was his collapse so sudden and so striking? He was susceptible to this threat because, first of all, his own people neglected him. The king Ahab had sent out many groups of men to hunt Elijah down. But, if we look at the details even more closely, we also see that Elijah neglected himself. We don’t find any record of him taking breaks, getting food and water and rest. And finally, Elijah begins to wonder if God himself was neglecting him. And at that point, it was only a matter of time till he cracked and crumbled. And so Elijah runs. And here in these words is where the Lord catches up with him: “⁹ There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰ He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”” (1 Kings 19:9–10 NIV11-GKE)

The Lord catches up with Elijah and asks the question: “Elijah, what is here for you?” Now, my dear friends in Christ, first of all, I want you to see what the Lord did not do and say. He did not treat Elijah like his pain wasn’t real and his questions didn’t deserve attention. In fact, what is so amazing in these words is that, when Elijah runs, he lets him run, and even miraculously lets him run for days till he can arrive at a safe spot. And then what does the Lord do? The \textsc{Lord listens to his voice.} The Lord wanted to hear him. And the Lord patiently let him give voice to his pain and panic.

My dear friends in Christ, that is not a small detail to overlook. There might be that time in your life when you crumble and collapse. There might be the time when the pressures and even persecutions of this world pile up. And you might be strong and faithful for a while. But don’t be surprised if a time comes when you crumble and collapse. And in those times, the Lord will come to you with this very same question, asking you in your own safe space what there is there for you? And he does this not to speak down to you. No, he does this because he knows that we need to give voice to our pain and panic. And so he doesn’t just listen. He listens with amazing absolute patience. And even better still, he also perfectly understands. And so, the Lord asks Elijah this question, ‘what is here for you?’ He does this because he wants to hear Elijah’s voice. But he also does this for another reason. We read: “¹¹ The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” (1 Kings 19:11–12 NIV11-GKE)

What is there here for you? The Lord asks the question because he wants to hear our voice. But he also does this so that we would hear his voice. And how he teaches this to Elijah is fascinating. The Lord hides Elijah in a cleft in the rock. And then the Lord passes by him. There’s a powerful wind, and then earthquake, and then fire. But the Lord is not there in any of them. Finally, there’s a still, small voice. And there is where the Lord is. Our Lord can part the Red Sea. He can destroy armies with avenging angels. He can tear apart the world at will. But most of the time, that’s not how he gets his work done. He works in simple and humble way—ways that we might miss if we aren’t looking for them. He works through his word sincerely believed and simply preached. Elijah was looking for a wow and a wonder. What he should have been looking for was a still, small voice of promise from the Lord.

But we too can fall into that trap, can’t we? Look in your own life? Do you see these amazing, over-the-top signs that the Lord is there with you and for you? You don’t, do you? And the reason why is that still today the Lord so very often works through that still, small whisper of a voice. And still today, if we are not grounded in and guided by God’s word, we will miss it. And day by day, week by week, we will set ourselves up for collapse.

So the Lord asks the question, “What is here for you?” He does this to give us a voice. But he also does this so that we would hear his voice. And that voice of comfort is a still, small voice. But, in these final words we learn another important detail about that voice: “¹³ 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?” ¹⁴ He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” ¹⁵ The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. ¹⁶ Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. ¹⁷ Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu.” (1 Kings 19:13–17 NIV11-GKE)

Elijah collapsed because he thought the only way God could work was with wows and wonders, when the truth of matter is that he does his best work with the still, small voice of his word. But here in these words he collapses because he concludes that if the Lord isn’t going to act according to his (Elijah’s) timetable, then the Lord isn’t going to act at all. And the truth is that, we and Elijah both are horrible at timing—especially when it comes to justice and vengeance. If we are pushed, we want to push back twice as hard and right now. The voice that the Lord shows us in these words is that if there is vengeance to be exacted at all, the Lord is the only one who can accomplish this the right way. And the vengeance he has here all planned out is thorough and it is bloody.

So today, the Lord asks you this question, “What is here for you?” He invites you to give voice to your panic, pressure, and even persecution. Speak to your Lord. And he invites you to also listen to his voice. He gets his best work done through that still, silent voice of his word and at his own timetable. And with that, we are able to begin to move ahead. And notice what I said. We begin to move ahead in our lives. But we still need that continual and constant voice of our Lord in his words to give forgiveness and promise justice. Amen.

¹ מַה־לְּךָ֥ פֹ֖ה