April 20th

April 20th -- 1 Kings 19 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings%2019&version=NLT)

Elijah flees to Sinai ; The Lord speaks to Elijah ; The call of Elisha

So upon getting home, Ahab of course tells his wife, Jezebel, who worships Baal, everything. She vows to kill Elijah before another day goes by, sending him a message to tell him this. So Elijah flees. He goes to Beersheba, leaving his servant there and carrying on on his own, resting at one point beneath a broom tree. He prays that God will take his life, saying he's had enough, and then falls asleep. As he sleeps, and angel touches him and tells him to get up and eat, and when he got up he found water and bread beside his head, so he ate and drank and goes to go back to sleep, but the angel tells him to eat more so he can handle the journey. He did so, and from that food he gained the strength to travel 40 days and nights to Mount Sinai, finding a cave there to sleep in.

God speaks to him, asking him what he's doing there. Elijah explains that even though he has always served God, the Israelites have turned to idols over God, killing all the prophets and he's the only one left so they're after him. God tells him to go and stand on the mountain. There is a huge windstorm, that tears rocks loose, but God is not in the storm. There was then an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. There is then a fire, but God is not in the fire. After that there is the sound of a gentle whispering. When Elijah hears it, he goes and stands at the entrance to the cave. A voice asks him what he is doing here. He answers it the same way. God then tells him to go back the way he came and go to Damascus, where he is to anoint Hazel to be king of Aram. He is also to anoint Jehu to be king of Israel and anoint Elisha to replace him as God's prophet. God says that those who escape Hazel will be killed by Jehu, and if they escape him too then they will be killed by Elisha. He says that He will, though, preserve 7,000 people who never worshipped Baal even once.

So Elijah goes and he finds Elisha plowing a field. Elijah goes over, puts his cloak over Elisha's shoulders, then walks away. Elisha leaves his oxen and runs to Elijah, asking if he may go and say goodbye to his mother and father before leaving with him. Elijah tells him he may go back, but to think about what Elijah has done to him. So Elisha goes back to his oxen and kills them, using the plow's wood to cook their meat, which he fed to the people of the town. He then went with Elijah as his assistant.

In the last passage I talked about, we saw how incredibly powerful God is. He does impossible things, because nothing is impossible for Him. So why not a big show and grand entrance? Why not be in the windstorm, or the earthquake, or the fire? Why be a whisper that's hard to hear? For exactly that reason. A windstorm, earthquake, or fire, or one of those invisible booming voices from Heaven as shown in movies would catch our attention easily, but a whisper is hard to hear. Why does God want to be hard to hear sometimes? If you want to know what someone's saying, you listen. God wants to make sure we're really listening when He talks to us. So you're probably thinking "Wait, He WANTS to help us, so why does He want to make himself hard to hear, then?" Well, because He wants to help us. Let me just explain this. If you asked God a question in prayer, and a big booming voice bellowed your answer from the sky, would you listen? Yes. You'd maybe throw out a quick "Hey, thanks for the answer!", but then you'd be back to whatever you were doing before, and you'd just go off happily with your answer. But then, does He become your God or your genie? He becomes your "genie". You ask the question, they give the answer, but He wouldn't have a 3-questiom limit. What I mean to say is, this would not draw you near to Him. When he is a whisper, not more than a quiet, gentle voice, then you have to listen to hear. In order to listen, you must first draw near. I mean, if you want to hear someone who's whispering, you don't stand a few feet away and try and listen - you go and put your ear to their mouth. Just like this with God, we need to draw near to really hear Him and listen hard to hear those gentle, quiet whispers. So, how does that help? Well, it brings you closer to God. Why that's helpful/beneficial should be clear enough on it's own...

So, keep listening for that quiet voice - it takes a lot to hear, and I sometimes struggle with it (okay, well, maybe often), but keep listening. Matthew 7:7 - "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." God will answer you. Have faith and take heart in that.

That's all for today. God bless! Shalom!

Also, for anyone who has any prayer requests or anything they may need, I can be contacted at http://emdaisy1.tumblr.com/ask if you don't have a blogger account and therefore can't contact me on here. I'll most likely answer within 12 hours of your sending it. My answer will be posted to http://emdaisy1.tumblr.com