The Wind is Coming

Psalm 46:1-3 New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 46

For the choir director: A song of the descendants of Korah, to be sung by soprano voices.[a]

1 God is our refuge and strength,
    always ready to help in times of trouble.
2 So we will not fear when earthquakes come
    and the mountains crumble into the sea.
3 Let the oceans roar and foam.
    Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! Interlude

"LORD, HELP!"It seems like there are so many people in this time that don't necessarily want anything grandiose from God. They're not begging for new houses, cars, or material things. They just want God to help. There's a fresh wind coming and people aren't really sure what to do with that. For some, the wind is blowing up that pile of dirt that's been swept under the rug for so long and left there. For others, the wind is blowing them in a new direction. For some, the wind is causing that Marilyn Monroe effect and exposing some things. 

For some, it may be a combination of all of those things. But the one thing that is definitely happen is energy is going to be given to produce. Now here's the thing, you have to change how you look at the wind. Wind can destroy, but it can also produce. 

So that brings us to the text

1 Kings 19:1-4 New Living Translation (NLT)

Elijah Flees to Sinai

19 When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way he had killed all the prophets of Baal. 2 So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.”

3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. 4 Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”

By this time in the text, Elijah has literally seen the effects of the wind. God had just shown Himself to be true through fire and He later sent a mighty wind that brought a storm from the sea to land. God had moved in such a way through Elijah that Ahab had to go home and tell his wife. The Bible doesn't go into detail and what exactly Jezebel's problem was at that time, but clearly sis was upset. 

I did a little of research on Miss Jezebel. I found out that she was a priestess. Now a priestess is a woman who has the authority to perform sacred and religious rituals. Okay, cool. It doesn't sound bad. But here's the thing, she doesn't believe in God. As a matter fact, she believes in Baal. Now that her god has been made out to be a lie, she's embarrassed. She's upset because of the effects of the wind--exposure. 

As believers, we have to understand that because we are born of the Spirit, it goes with us. 

John 3:8 New Living Translation (NLT)

8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

So when God shows up, there's no other choice but for things to be exposed. At the mention of His name, every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. Think to the man in Mark 5.  Jesus showed up and the demons in the man got aggravated and exposed themselves immediately without solicitation. 

But this is exactly why God has to be at our forefront. I'm not going to lie, if God showed up the way He did in Elijah, it would've scared me a little bit if I was Elijah. I would've been like 

We literally have no idea what He is going to do or how He is going to show up. But when He shows up, you have no other choice but to respect it. 

So Elijah is in a place where someone would rather kill him than to respect the god that he serves. Like any breathing person, Elijah ran. He didn't want to be in harm's way. Sometimes, when you ruffle the feathers of those in authoritative places, it makes you question everything. We as people don't want to rock the boat too much. If we did, there would be no such thing as fear, and that's obviously not true. 

Elijah had just seen miracles, signs, and wonders, but now he wanted to die because he ruffled some feathers. I can think back to when God started showing up in ways I never expected. I was pretty much ashamed because of it. Why? Because God was doing exceedingly and abundantly above what I could ask or think. 

The funny thing is that Elijah ran to Beersheba, which is in Judah. Judah means praise. You can't run to a place and think that you're not going to give God praise. God should be praised for what just took place. You can't be in a place of praise and think you're going to run from God. Elijah would've much rather die than to praise God. 

Here's the thing, as a prophet, Elijah is the mouthpiece of God. Essentially, that means that you have to have an out of body experience. Elijah was God's vessel. Elijah may have not wanted things to happen the way they did, but he was still obedient. Isaiah 1:19 says that if you are obedient, you will eat the good of the land. God honors that. 

That's what was happening in verses 7-9. What was also happening is what we talked about in the last devotional, God was preparing him for what was to come. He was telling him, "You can't give up now. I have more in store for you." Sometimes---actually in most cases, God prepares you for what is to come. I can remember even here recently, God started showing me things that I had never noticed before in people. Then he started sending random people who are close to me to talk to me about self-worth, not knowing what I was going through. And it was preparing my mind for what was coming. Those conversations stayed in the forefront of my mind. So what seemed like all hell was breaking loose around me, I didn't trip; I remembered what He said. 

It's not always that easy. When He is preparing you, sometimes you don't know that He's preparing you. But for everything there is a reason and a season under the sun. Nothing in this life is purposeless. So Elijah was being prepared, but he was not mentally ready. 

Ask me how I know. 

Because when God asked him why he was there, Elijah went into excuse mode. Come here, Moses. When God was speaking to Moses, Moses did the same thing. So did Jonah. God didn't ask Elijah what happened. He asked why was he here. Because the truth is, Elijah had already ran into the wilderness out of fear. But God met him in his fear to speak to him. Yet and still in that "fear," Elijah was obedient to God because he went to the cave that God told him to go too. 

That is the thing. A lot of us say we're afraid, but w still are obedient in that fear. That makes all the difference. Obedience will allow you to see who God really is. 

1 Kings 19:11-13 New Living Translation (NLT)

11 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

So now God has instructed Elijah to go to the mountain. When God went by, all hell broke loose. The text never says anything happens to Elijah. What does that tell you? When you are obedient, everything can be going crazy around you, but God will sustain you. Why? Because He is your place of safety. He is your strong tower.  A thousand may fall by your side and 10,000 by your right hand, but He will sustain you. 

That's why you have to embrace where you are in your storm. You never know what God is going to reveal to you at that time. Even in the storm, He is keeping you because He is in control. Yes, the devil is the prince of the airways but God created the air. He is the air we breathe. He has breathed his air on us. Anything that He breathes on shall live. Yes, I may have been dried out. Yes, I may have been weathered. Yes, I may have been beaten down, but these dry bones shall live!

Even in your weakest times, His strength is made perfect. That's why Elijah was able to go back into the wilderness and go back the way he came where people wanted to kill him. He had his preparation and provision that God gave him. He had preparation, provision, and promise. So when the wind comes, he'll bend but he won't break because he knows where his help comes from. He knows that God is in control of the wind.