|
|
My |
|
|
|
I have been thinking a lot about one of my favorite Old Testament stories – the one about Elijah destroying the false prophets of Baal. Followers of Baal were the terrorists of their day. In many ways, they were like the radical fringe of Islam, always doing evil works. At a time when he was on a spiritual high, Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a duel. They placed a sacrifice upon the altar and agreed to see whether Baal or the God of Elijah could destroy the offering. The Baalites ran through their religious rituals, including the piercing of their skin with sharp stones, but nothing happened. Then Elijah prayed to his God and fire fell from heaven, consuming the sacrifice. It even consumed the prophets of Baal! Queen Jezebel was a Baalite and when she heard how Elijah had embarrassed her leaders, she sent him the message that she intended to have his head. Elijah fled to the hills and hid under a juniper (cedar) tree. Then he relocated to a cave where he prayed to his God to die. He basically said he was the only person in the county with the guts to stand up to the political power structure represented by Jezebel and he was too tired to go on. God told him to come to the mouth of the cave for a demonstration of Truth. As Elijah stood there, the earth trembled in an earthquake. But God was not in the earthquake. Then a powerful wind came but God was not in it. Then a pillar of fire, but God was not in it. As he stood there trembling from these terrifying demonstrations of power, things got so quiet there was not a sound to be heard. Then it says God spoke in a small, still voice. This story shows that you can go from an incredible high to an unbelievable low. Here was a man with so much spiritual power he could call down fire from heaven one day and the next day be cowering in fear from a little mouthy woman. It also shows that man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart. Like most men, I guess an earthquake, fierce windstorm, and a pillar of fire would impress me. These kinds of things are the subjects of much of our news. We never see a headline about still small voices. An earthquake, hurricane or tsunami will glue us to a TV for days. I think the story also shows that we can be so involved in impressive shows of spirituality to the neglect of our own inner life. Otherwise, Elijah would not have lost his cool and headed for the hills when Jezebel threatened him. When the storms rage, seek out the still small voice. When you are calling down fire from heaven, realize that the real power of any demonstration lies in the power of the still, small voice. It’s not the noise and the bluster and the fireworks that impart spiritual life to you. It is the still small voice. Elijah came out of his cave and went on to less flashy works like feeding an old woman who had no food in the house. Spirituality is best expressed in works that nurture people, not those that destroy people. No matter how impressive your works may be, the one and only thing that will enable you to stay out from under cedar trees and caves and empower you to do genuinely good works that really do something for this world, is the small voice you will only find in the stillness. Be still and know.
|
