Most children reach a stage when they want to know why.
“Why is the sky blue?”
“Why do goldfish die?”
“Why doesn’t Daddy have hair on the top of his head?”
It’s not just silly, three-year-old questions, though.
Sometimes they want to know why their parents want them to do certain things
(or not do certain other things).
“Why do I have to eat my vegetables?”
“Why do I have to be home at 10:00?”
“Why can’t I go with Lisa and Trish to the beach for the
weekend without any parents?”
We tend to operate under the assumption that information
will naturally lead to cooperation. Sometimes it does, but most times it does
not. It just brings about further attempts to rationalize or justify or cajole.
But here’s something we learn from Elijah’s story, especially
from his whiny conversation with God in the mountains, If you knew what God
knows, you would be more likely to do what God says.
After Elijah’s winner-take-all confrontation with 850 pagan
prophets and their false god, Jezebel threatens to kill him and he runs away.
Elijah panics and goes on a 12-day journey down to the furthest point in the
Southern Kingdom, and then he goes for one more day. In other words, he goes as
far as he can and then a little farther. At this point, God shows up and Elijah
says, “Okay, God, I’ve had enough. Kill me now.”
Interestingly, God never panics.
God deals with Elijah like you would deal with a cranky
toddler: He gives him a drink and a snack and puts him down for a nap. When
Elijah wakes up, God shows him all the things He could do at a moment’s notice.
Earthquake. Fire. Howling wind. God’s got weapons in His arsenal that we don’t
know anything about. He’s heavily fortified.
Then God lets Elijah in on some things. Ahab won’t be king
forever. Elijah won’t be God’s main prophet forever. YHWH was here before
Elijah, and He’ll be here long after Elijah is gone. He’s been at work getting
things ready for the next chapter. Elijah can’t see things happening, but that
doesn’t mean that things aren’t happening.
“And by the way, you’re not the only true believer left.
There are 7,000 others.”
Interestingly, Elijah and God look at the same situation,
the exact same circumstances. Elijah panics and quits, God does not.
And why doesn’t God panic? Because He has a greater
perspective on things than Elijah. See, panic just reveals a limited
perspective. God is not nervously pacing back and forth in heaven, wringing His
hands wondering what to do. God has got a plan, and nothing in the whole wide world
is going to stop Him from bringing it all the way to fruition. God is not going
to be surprised by anything.
So we can calm down.
When we think the whole story lives and dies with us, we’re
liable to panic. We feel afraid, and we stop trusting God. But when we embed
our story into the larger context of His Story (history?), our panic subsides.
Our fear loses its grip on us, and we can relax, knowing that no matter how
messed up things appear to be now, God is still in control.
Lord of Hosts, I revel in the truths of Your majesty, power,
glory and dominion over all things in heaven and on earth. In spite of so many
appearances to the contrary, nothing can happen that comes as a surprise to You
or escapes Your control. You order the events of history in ways we do not
understand, and in spite of the vastness of human evil, Your plan will be
accomplished. I pray for the insight of a growing biblical perspective on the
events in my life and in the world. May I move with confidence in Your
sovereignty, even when things seem to make no sense to me. I thank You for Your
patience and comfort, especially in times when I try to run from You or feel
sorry for myself. I want to renew my mind with Your unchanging truth in a
changing world, so that my assurance is in Your often-mysterious ways in the
affairs of the sons and daughters of men.
In Jesus’s name, Amen
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