Be Still! Listen! Keith McFarren May 11, 2025 1 Kings 19:1-13 The Bible is full of people we should look up to…heroes, we might call them. But at the same time the Bible isn’t afraid to tell the truth about those same people…those same people who are supposed to be the heroes of our faith. Abraham was a hero…but he was also known to lie. Jacob was a hero…but he was also a thief. Moses. We all know what Moses did…but he was also a murderer. King David was the greatest king Israel ever had…a man after God’s own heart. But David was also an adulterer and part of a scheme to have his best friend murdered. Rahab, was a woman who lived in Jericho. A woman who saved the lives of a group of Israelite spies sent to scout out Jericho before attacking it. Rahab’s name as well as all those mentioned above appears in Hebrews 11, in what is called the Christian Hall of Faith. Oh, and in case you didn’t know, Rahab was a Canaanite and also a prostitute. Our hero from Mt. Carmel, the prophet Elijah, the guy we talked about last week…the guy who defeated Ahab and 850 of Ahab’s prophets…was no different than those I just mentioned. He too had shortcomings that the Bible exposes for us. Elijah won the big contest against King Ahab. His God, the God of Israel, brought fire down from heaven while the god of Baal didn’t…and Elijah was declared the winner. But there is more to the story than just that. After God’s fire reigned down, Elijah killed all of the prophets of Baal and then he prayed for rain and it rained like it never rained before, which caused massive destruction and even death. In the meantime, Ahab, being the tattletale that he was, was so mad that he ran home and reported everything that had happened to his wife Jezebel, the meanest woman in the Bible, who then sent a messenger to Elijah telling him that by this time tomorrow he would be dead. That’s a pretty threatening message to receive…you’ve got less than twenty four hours to live. And when Elijah heard that there was a bounty on his head, he did something that was out of character. Elijah, who was tired and worn out from all that had gone on just a little earlier on Mt. Carmel, did the same thing that Peter did when he was walking on water. Peter was walking on water and everything was going fine…that is until he took his eyes off Jesus and when he did that, he saw the storm around him and began to sink. Just like Peter, everything had been going great for Elijah; that is until he found out there was a contract out on his life and he suddenly lost not only his courage…but his faith in God went up in smoke as well. Scared to death, Elijah took off and ran for his life. He ran to Beersheba which was way down south and way out in the desert and from there he ran and he ran and he ran until he was so far out in the wilderness no one would ever find him. Tired, worn out and exhausted, he collapsed under a tree and with what energy he had left in him yelled out to God, “It’s more than I can take. Take my life and let me be.” This coming from the man who just a few days ago basked in the presence of God…a man who just a few days ago single handedly defied and defeated the 850 prophets of Baal. After facing Ahab and all the prophets on Mount Carmel, I always thought that Elijah was a pretty tough guy. Maybe he was on the outside, but on the inside he was different. Like many of us he was ruled by his emotions, often going from elation to dejection in the blink of an eye. And now, despite his huge victory on Mount Carmel, we find Elijah in a faithless funk. “You know what God? I’m done being a prophet. I’ve been on the front line ever since you chose me to be your spokesman. I head up all your causes; I’m on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week, and I’ve worked my fingers to the bone. And what do I get for all I’ve done? A contract out on my head and I have less than 24 hours to live. I break my neck to do what is right and I try to get the people to do what is right, but it doesn’t work. I’m frustrated. I’m burned up and I’m burned out and I can’t take it anymore. Just kill me and get it over with.” Elijah’s frustration reminds me of the minister who was asked if burying the people of his church was the toughest part of his job. “Not at all,” he replied. “After all, a Christian funeral is all about a celebration of victory. The toughest part of ministry is going to an after church Administrative Board Meeting and watching the people act contrary to everything I’ve been preaching and teaching. You sit back and you get frustrated as you watch people avoid each other and refuse to speak to each other; you watch people argue with each other and you watch people talk down to others, and you wonder “Have they not been listening to what I say? And you ask yourself, ‘After all I’ve done, I wonder if I’ve made even a nickel’s worth of difference in any of their lives.” This is what makes Elijah so relevant – he’s a prophet and he’s listed in Hall of Faith in Hebrews chapter eleven – and yet, in many ways, he’s just like us. Haven’t we all experienced frustration and fatigue in our lives? Has there ever been a time in your life when despite doing the very best you could, you’ve been completely and totally worn down by the pressures and demands of everyday life? If you’ve ever been a parent or if you have tried to raise a family or if you have ever worked for a hard-to-work-for employer, you know what I’m talking about. If you have tried to wear too many hats at one time and discovered they don’t all fit, you know what I’m talking about. If you worry more and more about tomorrow and what tomorrow will bring, you know what I’m talking about. If you have ever struggled with doubt about your faith, you know what I’m talking about. If any of these things describes you, then you know how Elijah felt out there in the wilderness. We all get tired and we all get frustrated. Like Elijah, we’re down and out and we’re looking for something new and exciting to come into our lives; something to give us a spark of energy or at least to show us a light at the end of the tunnel…something to get us back on the right track again. That’s the kind of message Elijah was looking for. The Bible is well known for mentioning mountains because in the Bible mountains have a meaning. So looking for God and hoping to hear from God, Elijah went to Mt. Sinai…the mountain associated with God’s presence and God’s power. Mt. Sinai was where God appeared to Moses and later gave him the Ten Commandments. A mountain is where Jesus gave his best sermon, prayed for his life and ultimately died on the cross. Mountains had a history of having exciting, life changing things happen. Surely, Elijah thought, this is where he could find God. But instead of standing on Mt. Sinai to look for God, Elijah, who was tired and frustrated with life, decided to go into a deep, dark cave on the side of the mountain. To my way of thinking, caves have a negative connotation. They aren’t bright and cheery…caves are dark, dank places. Caves are places of resignation, not revelation. They are places of containment, of concealment and of death. Think about David, hiding in a cave, fearing for his life as he was being hunted by Saul. Or think about the deep, dark cave like place that Jonah spent three days in during his time in the belly of a fish. And then there was the cave that Jesus was buried in…caves are places of emptiness, of loneliness and isolation and darkness. I don’t know about you but if I were at the end of my rope and I was searching for God, the last place I would do is to hide in a cold, dark, dank cave. If you were to look for God, where would you look? Where is it that we might find God? Maybe we could find him in the wind! The Bible talks a lot about God and the wind. After all, it was the wind of God that blew over the waters when God created the earth. It was that same wind that was breathed into human beings at the very moment human life began. It was the sound of the wind that created all sorts of havoc when Gods spirit came at Pentecost. If there would ever be a way for God to make his presence known…it would have to be in the wind. But then again, God isn’t always in the wind because God is not always found in the same place or in the same way you found him before. We remember the God who created the planets and the rocks and the trees and the animals. With a God this powerful we should be able to find him in a powerful earthquake that shakes the world around us. After all it was God’s presence in an earthquake that tore the Temple curtain on Good Friday giving us full access to his kingdom. And then it was an earthquake that shook apart the jail cell where Paul and Silas were being held in prison. If we were to find God, surely we could find him in an earthquake. But God isn’t always in an earthquake because God is not always found in the same way or in the same place you found him before. What about fire? Surely God’s presence can be found in fire. God used a pillar of fire for 40 years to lead the Israelites through the wilderness at night. And there were the little tongues of fire that touched down on all those present on the day of Pentecost. And even Elijah himself witnessed the presence of God in the fire sent down from heaven on Mount Carmel. But it doesn’t always work that way. God isn’t always in the fire because God isn’t always found in the same way or in the same place we found him before. When we limit ourselves to looking for God in the same ways and in the same places that we’ve looked for him in the past, we’re not always going to find him. God is powerful and at times overwhelming but that doesn’t always mean that he is always going to show up at the same time and in the same place, whenever or wherever we want him to. Thinking back, I don’t believe I’ve ever been in a real cave…but figuratively speaking I’ve probably been in one more times than I can remember. Figuratively speaking, caves are places we go when we’re feeling frustrated or feeling like we’ve reached rock bottom or when we feel like God no longer cares about us or our problems. But a cave can also be like a mother’s womb. A cave can be a deep, dark, isolated place, but it’s also a place where we can emerge with new life. It can be a place of rebirth…or a place of transformation…if we are willing open our hearts and our minds to God and God’s word. And it was in this cave that Elijah did just that…and it was in this cave that Elijah not only found God but he also found himself. You see, the battle isn’t always won at the top of the mountain with fire coming down from heaven or with the earth shaking or with high winds blowing. The battle can also be won simply by opening our hearts and minds and quietly listening and sensing God’s presence and knowing that he is always with us and that he always cares about us. “Be still, and know that I am God!” That’s what the psalmist wrote in Psalm 46:10, but that’s not what we do. How often do we ask God for something and then fail to take the time to stop and listen for his reply? We fail to stop and listen for God’s reply because being still and being quiet in the world we live in isn’t easy. The world demands so much from us and along with these demands comes the feeling of being overwhelmed and frustrated. We try to do what God wants us to do. We try to live as he wants us to live and things still go wrong and we still get down in the dumps and we still get frustrated and we still want to quit. But it’s during these tough times God wants us to be still and to be quiet, so that he can calm us just as he calmed the raging sea. “Why are you so afraid,” he asked the disciples that night. “Have you no faith?” That’s why we have to leave room in our hearts and minds for God to come to us. We have to set aside our preconceived notions of where we expect him to be and open our hearts and minds to where he could be. Be still, be quiet…listen and watch for God to work. God moves in mysterious ways…not always in big and bold and flamboyant ways but sometimes he works in quiet, unspectacular ways. He uses little things to accomplish his purpose. As someone once said, “Great doors swing on small hinges.” God uses small things to open mighty doors. We cry out to God hoping that he’ll appear in another one of his spectacular manifestations. But God isn’t locked into appearing in one way and one way only. God doesn’t always come to us in flashy ways…he come in unspectacular ways as well. He comes sometimes through quiet, soft ways…through some type of unspectacular event or even sometimes through common, everyday people. And sometimes, God’s voice is even present during a time of God’s self-appointed silence…like during the birth of a child to an unwed mother in a manger in a small town…or even in the death of an innocent man on a cross. The key to experiencing something new, something surprising and amazing in your life is not necessarily by expecting God to do something big and bold and breathtaking. The key to overcoming frustration, exhaustion and spiritual burnout is to quiet your heart, and quiet your mind and simply listen…no matter where you’re at…simply listen for God’s presence. He may come in a way you would have never expected. And that’s okay because that’s how God works. Open your heart and open your mind and allow his spirit to fill you, and to comfort you, and to encourage you, and if you do that, he will give you a newfound strength, a strength to continue on…even in the darkest of times. |