Finding God in the Silence

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Elijah had just finished a huge win for the Lord against the prophets of Baal. However, because of his death sentence against the prophets of Baal, Jezebel, the queen, put a death sentence upon him, and threatened that it would be carried out by the next day. So even with this great win, there was still that threat and fear that after all that, he’s still going to die at the hand of the powerful and evil queen.

You also have to read beforehand, and in the answers that Elijah gives the Lord each time He asked him what he’s doing there. Elijah not only had a huge price on his head, but he felt alone, and believed that he was the only one left who worshiped and followed the Lord and His commandments. Although, Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord, and he’d hidden about 100 of God’s prophets in caves, from the evil queen.

Notice, before walking a day’s journey into the wilderness, Elijah first left his servant. Then, when you look at how he responded to the angel and to the Lord – these are all indications of his feelings of fear, depression, loneliness, discouragement, and he just wanted to die – give up, because he felt like he wasn’t accomplishing anything from all the effort he was putting in – like, ‘what’s the point?’

If you’ve ever been depressed, or even just really down, you don’t want to do anything, and nothing anybody can say or do will encourage or motivate you. So the only thing you find worth doing is sleeping and hoping to die. Elijah did just that – he fell asleep and hoped to die. But suddenly after he fell asleep, an angel touched him and told him to get up and eat – so he did, but then laid back down after eating, hoping to die.

What the Lord did next, I’ve actually experienced, also. When going through struggles and trials with your current mission field, sometimes you want to ask the Lord for counsel about how to deal with it, or what to expect next. But instead, He helps prepare you for your next mission, or lesson. That’s what God did with Elijah here, for He had another long journey for Elijah to take (a 40 day/night walk to Horeb (aka, Mt. Sinai), the Mount of God, where the Lord revealed the Law to Moses (located some 200 miles to the south), and he wouldn’t make it if he didn’t eat. So Elijah ate, then made the journey.

Then, after he’d come to a cave to lie down, the Lord came to him and asked, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” God wasn’t asking what he was doing there in that place, for He’d just sent him there. It’s kind of like in Genesis when God asked Adam, “Where are you?” or Cain, “Where is your brother?” God already knew the answers, but still asked. For Adam and Cain, it was to speak to them in the darkness and open the opportunity for them to confess and engage in reconciliation with God. Here, God was talking to Elijah about what he was going through. ‘Why are you here – in this depression and down-state?’, in the darkness ya know? And we know this also because of Elijah’s answer:

So Elijah’s told to go up on the mountain and wait for the Lord to pass by.

We always think that we’ll experience God in the mountain-top experiences, right? Like when the Lord enters, there should be signs of a great wind, earthquake, mountains being split open and broken to pieces and fire, right? But God was showing Elijah that He wasn’t in the chaos, but in the silence that he is currently in. It’s like, when we’re feeling the most alone, THAT’S when God is most present – in the silence, when we’re feeling alone, depressed, discouraged, down, afraid…we are never alone, for God is with us in the peacefulness of silence. Paul said that when he’s the weakest, that’s when Christ is strongest in him.

Have you ever noticed that when you’re going through junk, sometimes you just need to take a deep breath, go sit in a dark room, and sit in the presence of the Lord in silence? You were most focused on Him and His care for you when you escaped the chaos. God’s not in the chaos, He’s in the silence, and when you turn to Him in this silence, He’ll help you realize that you’re not alone in the chaos.

So then, Elijah returned back down the entrance of the cave and stood there, like he didn’t want to believe it – or like when we feel alone, and our knowledge and experiences with God remind us (or God reminds us through them) that He’s actually here with us, and we’re like, ‘yeah, I know, but, (sigh), OK.’ And the Lord asked him again, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Whereas he just repeated his answer. This may have been a therapy session for Elijah. But God recognized his exhaustion and gave him one last, dangerous mission.

So, long answer-short, God was showing Elijah that He’s not always in the big, mountaintop experiences, but also in the silence. Elijah was feeling alone, depressed, afraid, worthless, and like what he was doing was pointless and not doing anything. God was saying, ‘meet me there, and I’ll meet you in your silence.’