A Still Small Voice

Legacy:   Faithfulness

In the third year of the drought Elijah received a new command from God: “Go, show yourself to Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth” (1Kings 18:1). Sound simple enough?  Not if  you read Chapter 18 of 1Kings! During Elijah’s absence Queen Jezebel had the prophets of the Lord killed; not a pleasant woman to do business with. In trying to set up a meeting with King Ahab, Elijah was putting his life on the line. Time was running out and the king could no longer straddle the fence between the God of Israel and his wife’s idols. Elijah, the fiery prophet, challenged Ahab – he, the Lord’s Prophet against the 450 prophets of Baal. Both sides would offer sacrifice but not set fire to them. Whose prayer would be answered and whose sacrifice would be consumed by fire sent down from heaven (1Kings 18:20-40)? On that day the people of Israel fell on their faces  in worship to the God of Israel who had shown through Elijah that the Lord is God. And the prophets of Baal were put to death!

The rains fell and the drought came to an end (1 Kings 18:41-46).

Elijah, faithful preserver of the covenant, is called forth from his time of intimacy with the Lord to stand strong and alone against the prophets of Baal to rekindle the faith of God’s people.

Most of us will not be called to put our life on the line, but we may be called to put our reputation on the line, to experience misunderstanding, hostility or rejection. We are called to enter into the Paschal Mystery as God’s witness and faithful servant.

 Legacy:  Fullness of Charity

The tension of such a dramatic event and the subsequent threat from Jezebel to take the life of Elijah sent him fleeing into the wilderness. Totally spent and utterly exhausted he lay down under a broom tree asking to die. For him the journey was over; he could not rise. Here was Elijah, the man of strength, now in the doldrums of weakness and despair. He had just experienced rejection, fear, and total discouragement. He had entered into the depths of darkness. How much could one person endure? He had forgotten that he was called to be a witness to the living God, not to be successful in every venture. Even a prophet cannot necessarily see the outcome of his endeavors. God sent an angel to interrupt his darkness and to sustain him with food for the next leg of the journey. Have you ever felt that you could not take even one more step? Unknown to Elijah just yet, he still has a 40-day journey to make to Mount Horeb (1Kings 19:1-8).

Elijah was now experiencing in his human weakness a deep purification, a realization that God’s will was not going to be accomplished by self-reliance. To experience God’s Presence is pure gift; God’s will is the fullness of charity within our heart, given over through sacrifice and total self-surrender. Elijah reminds us that God’s grace works through our human nature.

Legacy:  Zeal

At the end of his 40-day journey Elijah entered a cave on Mount Horeb. Within the darkness and seclusion of this dwelling the Lord questioned him as to his purpose there. Elijah responded with his timeless answer, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts…” (1Kings 19:10). Thus he summed up, not only his purpose in coming to Mount Horeb, but the purpose of his very life. Painfully he still felt the sting of human defeat and complained to God. Taking him where he was God came to his assistance by sending him to the mouth of the cave. There in God’s majestic creation Elijah listened to the mighty wind, the powerful earthquake and the roaring fire expecting to hear God’s voice. Creation was shouting out  but God was silent. God turned Elijah’s expectations around full circle and brought him back to his wilderness experience where he must wait on the Lord. The Lord, rather than shatter the silence, entered into it as a small whispering voice and again questioned Elijah as to his purpose there. He then sent him back into the wilderness with directives, one of which was to anoint Elisha as his successor (1Kings 19:9-16).

Elijah’s zeal was enkindled by his strong awareness of God’s Presence. He teaches us to be still, to listen and to sift out all the many voices calling out to us in order to recognize God’s  still small voice among the others. Where in your own circumstance can you find the “dwelling” that will enable you to be still, to  hear God’s voice and to be aware of His Presence?