Glimpses of God: Part 2 - 'The Cave Dweller'

This Sunday, Peter Roe brings us the talk in the latest of our EBC services. We encourage you to reflect on the bible text and join us in the prayer that follows below.
 
Here are some questions to consider:

Readings:

Isaiah chapter 40 verses 27 - 31

27Why do you complain, Jacob?  Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”?  28Do you not know?  Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  29He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  30Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

1 Kings chapter 19 verses 3 - 16

3Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. 7The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 8So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10He 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.” 11The 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. 12After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13When 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?” 14He 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.” 15The 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. 16Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.

Luke chapter 10 verses 38 - 42

38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

41“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42but few things are needed— or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”



Prayer and Reflection:

In my youth I was carefree – my parents did the worrying while I was able to enjoy life. But as we get older with increased responsibilities or are very busy, we get tired and can lose our enthusiasm for things, and our energy or keenness may be affected by all going on around us. In our darker moments, we may ask Where is God in all this? Why is it happening to me? Lord, stop the world for a bit, I want to get off! We need glimpses of God that will turn our thoughts to Him, allow us to renew our strength.

Recently, I was walking through the meadows beside the river Thames at Runnymede. Above my head was a red kite, wheeling and swooping down a few yards above the new-mown grass. I am always in awe of these amazing birds and the way they glide and soar effortlessly. Seeing the bird reminded me of a verse in the bible – a glimpse of God.

Isaiah’s was a prophet who lived about 2750 years ago in the kingdom of Judah which had been formed after a civil war split David and Solomon’s stable kingdom in two. Politics, wars, threats of invasion, famines – all things we experience or hear about in our own times – were affecting ordinary people as well as their leaders. If you read Isaiah 40 29-31, you can see that the people complained, saying God was ignoring them and Isaiah asked, why?

The prophet doesn’t stop with asking why they are moaning – he goes on to remind the people who God is and that he never grows tired and encourages them: “…those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint”. That was the verse which the watching that red kite reminded me of.

There is no criticism of those who do get tired or feel worn out. That’s part of life. What energises and renews is hope – trusting God, expecting Him to do His thing, and then the rising above your troubles, whatever they may be. Whether you are “running” or moving at a more sedate pace, the ability to keep going comes from that hope.

My wife and I like to take breaks near Paignton in South Devon. At the right time of year, I get another “glimpse of God” when we see the moon rise over the horizon and its reflected light glances across Tor Bay, reminding me of the continuity of God’s love, day and night.

And this leads me to another thing that gives me glimpses of God -through music. As well as playing in the band at EBC, I also love singing choral music. A favourite is Mendelssohn’s oratorio “Elijah”, which tells the story of the prophet Elijah, one of my favourite characters from the Old Testament part of the Bible. The work includes a lovely chorus set to words from Psalm 121: “He, watching over Israel, slumbers not nor sleeps”. The chorus comes at a point in the story when Elijah needed a glimpse of God to remind him that God was on his case.

Elijah lived about 125 years before Isaiah, in Israel, the northern of the two kingdoms with its capital in Samaria. His main foe was King Ahab. After dramatic events on Mount Carmel (which you can read about in the first book of Kings, Chapter 18), Ahab had it in for Elijah big time, so he fled, travelling on foot for five weeks or so, eventually reaching Mount Horeb where he sheltered, exhausted, in a cave. This part of the story is in 1 Kings chapter 19 from verse 9.

On that mountain side, Elijah was reminded of who God was. He witnessed storm, earthquake and fire but it was a small calm voice that gave him his next commission and a sight of the future with the instruction to anoint his successor. Even great servants of God get down sometimes, so there is hope for us!

There is a lovely story in Luke’s account of Jesus life, at Chapter 10 verses 38-42. Martha was distracted – obviously she wanted to hear what Jesus was saying but felt obliged to keep working in her role as hostess. What did she do? She grumbled at Jesus that her sister wasn’t helping. But instead of the response she wanted – Jesus telling Mary to go and help her sister – Martha was gently chided. Although there were many things upsetting her, they weren’t all as important or necessary as she thought. What she needed then, was to take time to listen to God, which in effect was what Mary had opted to do.
 
We need to accept that we get tired sometimes. It is the active people (of all ages) that will get weary. We are not told to do nothing, but to renew our strength. It is worthwhile, indeed essential, to take time out to rest and not run ourselves down. We need to catch those glimpses of God in our everyday lives which can come in so many ways but are there if we only take a moment to look.

Whatever our physical limitations may be, we can rise on wings like eagles – or red kites - and renew our strength. We can sit beside still waters and overcome our weariness. We can be sure that God neither slumbers, nor sleeps. And all that becomes possible when our hope is in God.
     
Heavenly Father,
We admit that sometimes we get weary and perhaps are discontented. Please help us to recognise the glimpses of you that we see in our ordinary lives that will remind us of your continuing love. Forgive us when we grumble at you rather than take time to rest and listen. Give us the hope that will allow us to renew our strength and take flight.
We ask in Jesus’ name.
Amen



Questions to Consider

1. What things in your life cause you to become tired or weary?
2. When have you been guilty of complaining that God seems to be ignoring you when you may also be ignoring Him?
3. What things in your ordinary life give you glimpses that remind you of who and how great our God is?
4. Isaiah wrote “those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” What does it mean to you to “hope in the Lord”?
5. Elijah was presented with a view of God’s power but received his message and new commission in a whisper. Mary took time to sit at Jesus’ feet and Martha was encouraged to do the same. What might you do in your busy or stressed life to be able to rest, listen for the whisper and renew your strength?