Sunday, November 27, 2005
Word For The Week
Confession is good for the soul, though bad for the reputation.
This was going to be my GBCW post since I will be moving this week and it looked like I would be without Internet access for some time to come - it still looks like I may be without Internet access for a while - but God has a strange way of getting a word to you when you least expect it. I picked up a seasonal retail job to help with my moving expenses and I have been on my feet for the better part of the last two weeks - a new experience for me - and yesterday, as I was helping customers, a sister came into the store and talked with me for a bit, telling me how the Word For The Week has been a blessing to her. She had no idea that at that moment I had figured that I'd written my last Word, that I was ready to leave all this be and just focus on taking care of my own food, clothing and shelter. She had no idea that I was on the cusp of yielding to the temptation of nihilism, of saying, "To hell with all of this." She had no idea that I was in Elijah's shoes, crying, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers."
Yet God works in mysterious ways.
While certainly cliché, it is still true that God works in mysterious ways, as Elijah found out in our text. Katrina-force winds were blowing all around him, tearing the mountains asunder, but God was not in the wind. Tsunami-causing earthquakes were rumbling all about him and yet God was not in the earthquake. Fires burned out-of-control like Uncle Gus at a barbecue and yet God was not in the fire. But there was this still, small voice, the sound of a gentle blowing, and there God was. Too often we look for God in the big events, in the major catastrophes. We cry out, "Where was God on September 11th?" "Where was God during Hurricane Katrina?" "Where was God on November 2nd?" But it is not necessarily in the earthquake, the wind, or the fire where we hear from God, but in the aftermath through the still, small voice, the sound of a gentle blowing. Once God has our attention we can then hear from Him.
We just have to listen.
Elijah was zealous for the Lord. He had just gone one-on-450 with the prophets of Baal in the cosmic showdown - where God rained fire down on Elijah's altar as a demonstration of His lordship - yet Elijah was distressed over Jezebel sending her agents to kill him. Elijah had resigned himself to his fate and simply asked God to get it over with quickly, but God had other ideas - there was still work to do - so while Elijah thought that he had no food, clothing, or shelter coming God sent an angel to provide for him. Has God ever made a way for you out of no way? Has God ever brought you out of a situation from which there was no escape? Has God ever visited you through an angel? You may well have entertained angels without knowing it, or you may have sent them on their way without showing them kindness, but know that God does and will reach out for those who are His - His sheep hear His voice and they follow Him. Whose voice are you following? Who has your ear? Are you following the Lord God Almighty or are you following your own Drum Major Instinct? For me, come hail or high water (and the water's getting pretty high right about now), I will serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Father of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
How about you?
This was going to be my GBCW post since I will be moving this week and it looked like I would be without Internet access for some time to come - it still looks like I may be without Internet access for a while - but God has a strange way of getting a word to you when you least expect it. I picked up a seasonal retail job to help with my moving expenses and I have been on my feet for the better part of the last two weeks - a new experience for me - and yesterday, as I was helping customers, a sister came into the store and talked with me for a bit, telling me how the Word For The Week has been a blessing to her. She had no idea that at that moment I had figured that I'd written my last Word, that I was ready to leave all this be and just focus on taking care of my own food, clothing and shelter. She had no idea that I was on the cusp of yielding to the temptation of nihilism, of saying, "To hell with all of this." She had no idea that I was in Elijah's shoes, crying, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers."
Yet God works in mysterious ways.
While certainly cliché, it is still true that God works in mysterious ways, as Elijah found out in our text. Katrina-force winds were blowing all around him, tearing the mountains asunder, but God was not in the wind. Tsunami-causing earthquakes were rumbling all about him and yet God was not in the earthquake. Fires burned out-of-control like Uncle Gus at a barbecue and yet God was not in the fire. But there was this still, small voice, the sound of a gentle blowing, and there God was. Too often we look for God in the big events, in the major catastrophes. We cry out, "Where was God on September 11th?" "Where was God during Hurricane Katrina?" "Where was God on November 2nd?" But it is not necessarily in the earthquake, the wind, or the fire where we hear from God, but in the aftermath through the still, small voice, the sound of a gentle blowing. Once God has our attention we can then hear from Him.
We just have to listen.
Elijah was zealous for the Lord. He had just gone one-on-450 with the prophets of Baal in the cosmic showdown - where God rained fire down on Elijah's altar as a demonstration of His lordship - yet Elijah was distressed over Jezebel sending her agents to kill him. Elijah had resigned himself to his fate and simply asked God to get it over with quickly, but God had other ideas - there was still work to do - so while Elijah thought that he had no food, clothing, or shelter coming God sent an angel to provide for him. Has God ever made a way for you out of no way? Has God ever brought you out of a situation from which there was no escape? Has God ever visited you through an angel? You may well have entertained angels without knowing it, or you may have sent them on their way without showing them kindness, but know that God does and will reach out for those who are His - His sheep hear His voice and they follow Him. Whose voice are you following? Who has your ear? Are you following the Lord God Almighty or are you following your own Drum Major Instinct? For me, come hail or high water (and the water's getting pretty high right about now), I will serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Father of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
How about you?
May the LORD bless you and keep you;
May the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
And may the LORD,
Who still speaks in the small sound of a gentle blowing,
May He turn His face toward you and give you peace.
May the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
And may the LORD,
Who still speaks in the small sound of a gentle blowing,
May He turn His face toward you and give you peace.
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