me like, what would be the title of what we're
doing tonight? And I didn't really have one,
but it's one that I think is a question that
comes to mind, and maybe many of you have asked
before, and that is, God, are you there? So we'll
be in 1 Kings chapter 19, 4 through 21, the story
of Elijah. Sure. Yeah, you go ahead, Greg. First
Kings, chapter 19, 4 through 21. Yes, yeah, I'm
not going to typically start off reading all
of it to save us some time. It's quite the story,
so I'll do a little bit of recap and we'll read
it as it applies. And so kind of in that vein
of, God, are you there? One of the openings would
be... Have you ever just been done? And I don't
mean with a situation, you've lost your patience.
I mean to the point of trial after trial and
you cry out, you know what, God, I'm good. Like
if you just take me home right now, then no complaints
from me. I'm content. Just call me home. This
is where we find Elijah here in verse four. He's
exhausted. He's running for his life. He's wishing
that he might die. But as we see he still has
a ways to go Now if this was a film I'd imagine
this would actually be the opening scene if you've
seen the Emperor's New Groove It opens up with
Kuzco the llama right just say oh my goodness.
I'm about to you know just I'm done and so keeping
in that same vein will actually Kind of run through
quick background on how we actually got here
So Israel and Judah at this time they were split
they were warring against each other and in particular
Israel had a lot of infighting people trying
to claim the right to be the king and so Jeroboam
is the first king and then an effort to keep
power and disunity in the people of God he Constructs
two golden calves and so that people of Israel
won't have to travel to Judah into Jerusalem
And he also establishes sort of a counterfeit
law. He establishes a priesthood that aren't
of the Levites as God required Well, he dies
and his son Nadab ascends and it is said of him
in chapter 15 verse 26 He did what was evil in
the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of
his father and in his sin Which he made Israel
to sin Well, not long after Nadab is murdered
and his murder Basha becomes king, and then verse
34, right, just a few verses later it says, he
did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and
walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin
which made Israel to sin. The same goes for the
next two kings, Eli and Zemri. Then Omri who
becomes king, and it said that not only did he
do what was evil, but he actually did more evil
than all that were before him. And then enter
Ahab, the son of Omri, right here to turn this
thing around. Except for not quite right. He's
even worse than his father. It says he did more
evil than all before Him and then the wording
here is interesting in chapter 16 verse 31 and
it gives us a better understanding of how depraved
he was and As if it had been a light thing for
him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of
Nabat He took for his wife Jezebel the daughter
ofeth Baal King of the Sedonians and went and
served Baal and worshiped him So, Baal was considered
a storm god for the Sidonians, which, to be fair,
would have made for quite the attractive option
as far as gods because this was a very dry region
of Israel where they were quite dependent upon
the rain. So, even as many would have still recognized
perhaps God as the one true God, Yahweh, there
would have at least been this pooling to, well,
I better at least maybe sacrifice to Baal just
to cover my bases, just to check my boxes. just
to make sure that the rain is going to come.
And so we see there Ahab leading the people astray
in that regard. Well, he also sets up in Asherah,
which we may know would lead to the sacrificing
of babies and of children. This is the type of
evil ushered in by Ahab. But as the scripture
says, God will not be mocked. So what does he
do? He sends in our main character here, Elijah
the Tishbite. who pronounces a drought on the
land until God speaks through him again. The
Lord then instructs Elijah to go hide out about
20 to 40 miles east. Well, this drought goes
on for about three years before God speaks to
Elijah and he says, go back and find Ahab to
do what Elijah surely would have thought would
be to put this God ball to rest. And so we get
the famous story that we've all have likely heard.
We have a standoff between the gods. We have
450 prophets of Bel, or Baal. And then we have
one prophet of God, Elijah. They each are going
to set up an altar. They're going to cut up a
bull as sacrifice. And they're going to call
upon their gods. And whoever answers wins. Pretty
simple. And as we know, Baal doesn't answer.
God does by sending fire and burning up the sacrifice
the altar and all the water the Elijah had poured
on it just to make a point and In verse 39 of
chapter 18 It says and when all the people saw
it they fell on their faces and said the Lord
He is God the Lord He is God Well, then the drought
ends so but all has been defeated the people
have turned back to God And here comes the rain.
All is good. Not exactly, right? Ahab goes and
he tells his wife, Jezebel, everything that's
happened, one of those things being that Elijah
had slaughtered all the prophets of Baal, right?
And Jezebel is not happy about this, right? She
sends a messenger to Elijah and she said, well,
the gods better slaughter me too or else I'm
gonna see to it that you die by this time tomorrow.
And so Elijah is not sticking out sticking around
to find out if she plans on making good on that
threat So he runs for his life all the way to
Beersheba. In fact verse 3 tells us So that would
have been about a hundred and twenty miles So
for reference like if we ran from George's Creek
down to Williams Bryce Stadium, right? I can't
think of a worse destination myself where the
Gamecocks play football, but that's about a hundred
and twenty miles From where we are right now.
So Elijah runs all the way to Beersheba. And
here he actually, he leaves his servant behind.
So he has a servant who's traveling with him.
He leaves him behind and he goes another 20 miles
or another day's journey into the wilderness
and he crawls up under a tree to sit, to rest.
And so we've made it back now to our opening
scene of our film, right? An exhausted, running
for his life, wishing that he might die. Elijah.
And as we pick up now into the focus of our study
this evening I'll lead with our main point and
that is in times of trial We can be comforted
in God's presence In times of trial we can be
comforted in God's presence Which right that
that sounds good It's cliche enough for us to
maybe see it on a mug or on a t -shirt or on
a picture on Facebook that gets shared. But it
begs the question, how does God make His presence
known to us? Because I know the response. Christian,
I hear you. I want to be comforted. But there's
been times that I've cried out. I've cried out
and I've said, God, are you even there? And so
our text tonight outlines four ways that God
makes His presence known in times of trouble.
So let's begin with today's text in verse four.
or an angel touched him and said to him arise
and eat and he looked and behold there was at
his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar
of water and he ate and drank and lay down again
and the angel of the Lord came again a second
time and touched him and said arise and eat for
the journey is too great for you and he arose
and ate and drank and went in the strength of
that food 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb the
Mount of God. So what does this text reveal,
right? That nothing quite cures a deep depression
like a nap and a good meal, right? There's certainly
some truth there, but these verses are a bit
richer than that, which gives us our first answer
to our main question today, and that is, God
makes His presence known through His provision.
God makes his presence known through his provision
And we see a few examples of this provision in
these verses Elijah has gone a day's journey
into the wilderness from Beersheba Right a day's
journey would have been about 15 to 20 miles,
right? So Elijah has at least traveled that far
into the wilderness And as we talked about before
in southern Israel, what type of land or our
geological region would that have been? a desert
right And what doesn't really grow in a desert?
Plants, for starters, but especially trees or
large bushes. And yet, Elijah, in fleeing for
his life 20 miles south of the nearest town,
exhausted to the point of saying, God, would
you just kill me, finds refuge under a tree.
And in doing so, God provides Elijah a place
to rest. We are reminded of this in Psalm 127
to when talking about laboring apart from God
It states it is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest Eating the bread of anxious
toil for he gives to his beloved sleep So God
knows that we have limitations He often pushes
us beyond those limits so that our reliance on
him grows more and more He actually bakes rest
into the law That the Sabbath should be honored
and it should be kept holy. Jesus says the Sabbath
was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The
Sabbath was made so that man could rest, not
because God needs our worship on a particular
day. Rest is a good thing, and God provides that
for us. And we don't even have to wait until
a special day of the week for these moments,
or these moments of desperation. Rest is available
for us in the person and work of Jesus Christ,
right? And Jesus tells us this much in Matthew
chapter 11 verse 28 through 30 He says come to
me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will
give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn
from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and
you will find rest for your souls for my yoke
is easy and my burden is light Dave actually
said this beautifully the other night in gospel
groups as he brought up this verse as we're going
through Colossians and talking about bearing
one another's burdens And he said that something
to the effect of I don't remember for radum But
it was it's not that well we'll somehow have
all of our issues just gone in life But rather
in being yoked to Christ he will a bear the weight
of our burdens While also be keeping us in lockstep
moving forward on mission to our rest is now
fully realized in Christ. How else do we see
God provide in these verses? When Elijah wakes
up, what's waiting on him, right? A hot cake
and a jar of water. And so it's not just our
rest, but also our sustenance. We see in these
verses, God makes himself known through the provision
of food and drink. Elijah wakes up, or I guess
really even cooler, an angel wakes him up and
says, arise and eat. And there's a hotcake and
a jar of water prepared for him. And apparently
he's still so tired that he falls back asleep.
And then the angel of the Lord wakes him up again.
And he says, arise and eat for the journey is
too great for you. So we find out that whatever
he eats next is supposed to serve him for the
next 40 days and nights. So Elijah's gotten a
couple of rounds of hotcakes and water that we
all know is not going to be enough to survive
for 40 days, much, much less in the desert. And
yet through this miracle we see God making his
presence known to Elijah through the provision
of strength. And he completely separates Elijah
from food and drink for 40 days to make sure
that there's no confusion on where his strength
comes from. May we remember the words of Jesus
when he's in the wilderness being tempted with
food from Satan as he's fasting. Jesus actually
calls back a verse from Deuteronomy when he's
being tempted that applies here to Elijah as
well. It's Deuteronomy 8. three and he humbled
you and let you hunger and fed you with manna
which you did not know nor did your fathers know
that he might make you know that man does not
live by bread alone but man lives by every word
that comes from the mouth of the lord right and
so you're starting to probably see a theme form
here because he does that through the person
and work of jesus christ We read in John 6 32
through 35 that Jesus then said to them truly
truly I say to you It was not Moses who gave
you the bread from heaven, but my father gives
you the true bread from heaven For the bread
of God is who comes as he who comes down from
heaven and gives life to the world They said
to him sir give us this bread always And Jesus
said to them I am the bread of life whoever comes
to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in
me Shall never thirst Jesus is the source of
our strength And surely this has been true for
you in your life. You've been through hard times
You've had to care for a loved one who is sick
and then perhaps died you weren't sure if you
had enough money to make it through the week
and the in the pantry was running there and Again,
this is where we meet Elijah On the run in the
middle of the wilderness pleading that God would
just take his life and God reminds him through
his provision Hey, you're here because of me.
You're here for me Therefore you need to look
to me to sustain the very breath in your lungs
and the strength to take the next step So God
provides rest and strength for Elijah, but also
a game plan Let's not let's not miss this the
angel of the Lord says the journey is too great
for you God has a journey planned ahead for Elijah.
We read in the next verse where this journey
will lead, which is Horeb, the Mount of God,
also called Mount Sinai, right where God appears
to Moses through the burning bush, and he also
provides the Ten Commandments here. And so we
have a bit of good news, bad news for Elijah,
right? Good news is Elijah is now rested, he's
now fed, and he's got a purpose and a plan. The
bad news is Mount Sinai is about 180 miles south
of where he is now. So God doesn't just solve
all of his problems. This isn't the part where,
although Elijah's hoping for it, he gets whisked
away in a whirlwind. No, rather, God restores
him and he says, all right, let's go. The next
little bit's gonna be hard too. And so we know
this next bit of the journey is going to be difficult,
as it's signified by the time period it's going
to take them to make this journey of about 40
days and nights. And so for 40 years, the Israelites
wandered around in the desert. It was Jesus who
faced trial in the desert for 40 days and 40
nights and fasted. This number often means a
period of trial. Again, showing Elijah and us
that God has provided for and sustained Elijah
through intense trial. And so Elijah arrives
at Horeb, the mount of God, and we'll pick back
up in our text in verse 9. There he came to a
cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of
the Lord came to him, and he said to him, What
are you doing here, Elijah? He said, I have been
very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts.
for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant.
They've thrown down your altars and killed your
prophets with a sword. And I, even I, only am
left and they seek my life to take it away."
And he said, go out and stand on the mount before
the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by and
a great and strong wind tore the mountains and
broken pieces the rocks before the Lord. But
the Lord was not in the wind. after the wind
and earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake
and after the earthquake a fire but the Lord
was not in the fire and after the fire the sound
of a low whisper if you're familiar with the
story of Moses then this sequence may actually
sound familiar right Moses goes up to Mount Sinai
or like we've mentioned and he gets the Ten Commandments
And then he comes back down. Well, it doesn't
take long for the Israelites, who were just brought
out of Egypt, to turn to idol worship. And God
is angry. And he's about to eliminate them all
and start afresh with Moses. But Moses pleads
with God and he seeks his mercy. Well, God relents
and so he sends Moses down, who then gets angry
at the people and he breaks the tablets. And
he ends up destroying the calf and having the
Levites slaughter about 3 ,000 people. I'm still
talking about Moses. I haven't jumped back to
Elijah. The parallels are very, very similar
here. And yet when Moses ascends back onto the
mountain, what does he do? He seeks atonement
for the people and ultimately sees the back of
God as Moses steps out from hiding in a cleft
or a cave. And here we have Elijah who's climbed
the very same mountain and is in a cave, perhaps
the same exact cave that Moses might have been
in. And God speaks to him and asks, what are
you doing here, Elijah? I think we can all agree
that God wasn't necessarily surprised to see
Elijah at this point. 40 days ago, the angel
of the Lord told Elijah, hey, there's a journey
ahead. You're headed to Horeb. You're headed
to Mount Sinai. So this isn't a surprise. Oh,
what are you doing here, Elijah? No, what God
has done is that he's drawn Elijah near to him
and invited him to speak and to share what's
on his mind. If I'm sitting down or I'm doing
something like yard work and I hear Clara, my
oldest, cry out and I want her to draw near to
me. And God help me that I'm not impatient and
God help me that I'm not surprised when she comes
to me with her problems. God help me that I too
would draw her near to me and ask, hey, what's
going on? What are you doing here? And so what
we see here actually is a a loving God, not a
surprise God, but a loving God, inviting His
child to cast His cares upon Him. And unlike
Moses, Elijah pleads his case. He essentially
says the opposite of Moses here. Elijah isn't
after atonement and God's mercy, rather he's
after his judgment. Elijah's fed up. He says,
God, I've been jealous for you, but everybody
else, they've forsaken your covenants. They've
thrown down your altars. They've killed your
prophets. And all you've got is me. I'm the only
one left." Right? Contrast this again to Moses,
who God says he himself is going to wipe everybody
out and start over with Moses. And Moses says,
no, God, these are your people. Let your name
be made great through them. And so God makes
a point here. He instructs Elijah to stand out
on the mount before him. Now in this sequence
with Moses the Lord says he will make all of
his goodness pass before Moses But what do we
see here starting again in verse 11? And he said
go out and stand on the mount before the Lord
and behold the Lord passed by and a great and
strong wind Tore the mountains and broken pieces
the rocks before the Lord but the Lord was not
in the wind and after the wind an earthquake
but the Lord was not in the earthquake and after
the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in
the fire and after the fire the sound of a low
whisper. And at the conclusion of this sequence,
we get our second point, and that is that God
makes his presence known through his word. God
makes his presence known through his word. So
we see three major events right three events
that are actually often ways that God makes the
power of his might known Three natural elements
that God has often used to make his judgment
known to the people But instead we get this little
detail after each one that the Lord was not in
these And one thing that's particularly interesting
here is that the Lord was not in the fire, right?
Do we do we remember the backstory of how Elijah
got here right in competition with hundreds of
prophets? He was in this standoff of whose God
was real, and the Lord makes his presence known
by coming down as fire and burning up the altar.
And yet here on the mount, he's not in the fire.
But what comes next? The sound of a low whisper,
or some translations render this a still small
voice. Voice being the Hebrew word, kol. And
this is significant because we see this same
word appear twice in the previous chapter during
this God standoff. Elijah lets the prophets of
Baal go first, and so they're summoning him.
They're calling on him for hours saying, oh,
Baal, just answer us. And as we see in chapter
18 verse 26, but there was no voice and no one
answered. Well, Elijah mocks them. He says, hey,
keep screaming. I mean, he's a God, right? Perhaps
he's busy or he's relieving himself or perhaps
he's on a trip. Or you know what? He might be
asleep. If you're a little bit louder, scream
for a little bit longer, perhaps he'll wake up.
And so the prophets continue to cry out. They
even start to cut themselves and shed their own
blood. And so we see actually in a few verses
later, verse 29, but there was no voice. No one
answered. No one paid attention Elijah is pleading
for the judgment of God to be made known he wants
to see the power of his might taken out on all
the people who have betrayed the covenant of
God and instead God makes himself known through
his word a still small voice Will God reveals
himself to us in this way still through his word?
We live in a world of people that demand God's
judgment, seeking signs of His power. And instead,
He's mercifully revealed Himself through His
Word that we may better understand His character.
We want to see the winds that tear apart mountains,
earthquakes, and fire. And please hear me, this
isn't a bad thing to desire God's judgment, but
we better be careful what we're asking for. Because
we haven't dodged the bullet here either. We
too often want to apply God's judgment and the
wrath of the wrath on sins of the world that
we hate the most But we need to understand that
God will not judge with partiality right that
our gossip and our covetousness and our gluttony
are as damnable offenses as rape and abortion
and homosexuality and our desire for judgment
will lead to our own condemnation and So God
here to Elijah mercifully and patiently makes
himself known to Elijah through his word. And
as such, we would do well to pursue God's will
and his voice through his written word, where
we would find verses like John 3, 17, where Jesus
says, for God did not send his son into the world
to condemn the world, but in order that the world
might be saved through him. And so let us not
pursue the destruction of others in the name
of God's judgment, but that His Word be a comfort
to all people everywhere. If your heart has been
oriented around the destruction of others and
sin that you hate more than perhaps your own
sin, and it hasn't been oriented around their
salvation, then we've missed the point. And that's
actually what we see here from Elijah. God invites
Elijah to speak. Elijah pleads his case and he
calls for judgment and instead God says you mean
like this the the wind and the earthquake and
the fire I'm not in those Actually, here's what
I'm gonna do instead remember this and I want
you to remember this pattern because we're gonna
jump into verses 13 through 18 here and We see
a very similar pattern even identical at some
points And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his
face in his cloak and went out and stood at the
entrance of the cave. And behold, there came
a voice to him and said, what are you doing here,
Elijah? He said, I have been very jealous for
the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of
Israel have forsaken your covenant. They've thrown
down your altars and killed your prophets with
a sword. And I, even I only, am left. And they
seek my life to take it away. And the Lord said
to him, go, return on your way. to the wilderness
of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint
Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu, the son
of Nimshi, you shall anoint to be king over Israel.
And Elisha, the son of Shaphat of Abel Mahallah,
you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.
And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael
shall Jehu put to death. And the one who escapes
from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death.
Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel. the
knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every
mouth that has not kissed him." So again, God
invites Elijah to speak, right? And Elijah doubles
down, asking for God's judgment. He says the
exact same thing and calls for judgment. And
we see the pattern from before, do we not? God
responds with three things, right? We get the
anointing of Hazael and Jehu, and then Elijah
to carry out his judgment on the people, right?
Hazael is going to be killing Quite a lot of
people, and whoever escapes Hazael, Jehu's going
to kill. And whoever Jehu doesn't kill, Elisha's
going to put them to death. We actually see this
judgment carried out later in 2 Kings 8 and 9
as Hazael and Jehu are anointed as kings. I'm
convinced that these characters are displays
of his judgment as you look at these accounts.
So Elisha, already anointed by Elijah, Anoints
hazael as king and he actually breaks down into
tears when he when he anoints hazael as king
in second kings 812 he says he being Elisha answered
Because I know the evil that you will do to the
to the people of Israel You will set on fire
their fortresses and you will kill their young
men with a sword and dash and pieces their little
ones and rip open their pregnant women Hazael
goes on to war against Israel and do all of these
things that were prophesied. Jehu actually goes
on to wipe out the rest of the house of Ahab
in 2 Kings 10, as well as all the prophets of
Baal. And so the pattern here is significant
as we see the three natural occurrences of the
wind, the earthquake, and the fire, which God
was not in, paralleled with the rule of Haseel,
Jehu, and Elisha. But after the fire, we get
what? We get that low whisper or that still small
voice. And after these three men are anointed
to lead, we get what? A remnant of 7 ,000 of
God's chosen people. Which brings us to the third
point. God makes His presence known through His
grace. God makes His presence known through His
grace. Great so paralleled with the low whisper
then the is the merciful withholding of his judgment
in the deliverance of seven thousand Israelites
who have not given themselves over to ball right
God is well aware of the sins of the people who
have turned their backs on Turn their backs on
him and have gone after other gods However, we
can be confident that God will not fail in his
mission to rescue his people and to uphold the
promises to his children Right Paul highlights
his exact case in in Romans actually Romans 11
2 through 5 God has not rejected his people whom
he foreknew Do you not know what the scripture
says of Elijah how he appeals to God against
Israel? Lord they have killed your prophets.
They have demolished your altars and I alone
am left and they seek my life But what is God's
reply to him? I have kept for myself seven thousand
men who have not bowed the knee to Baal So too
at the present time there is a remnant chosen
by grace. And it's always been God's grace that
he's maintained his people in times of trial.
Speaking of Paul, he gets a taste of this himself
as he prays for the thorn in the flesh to be
removed. I think we all know God's response to
this when he says, my grace is sufficient for
you for my power is made perfect in your weakness.
it's in these times of trial of affliction of
suffering that we are made even more painfully
aware of our human condition and While like Elijah
we tend to call for the judgment upon the things
that cause these trials and inflicts on us suffering
We say God exercise your might let everybody
see your power He says to both Paul and Elijah
that his power is actually made perfect and understood
properly Not in rescuing them from trials But
by upholding them in the trial his chosen people
in their moments of weakness His presence is
made known through his grace Right. We are pointed
to this point in Romans 3 I think we all may
know Romans 3 23 which is for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God and The first
part of Romans 6 23 which is for the wages of
sin is death Right, but there's good news attached
to both of those Romans 3 goes on to read and
are justified by his grace as a gift through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus and similarly
as you as you can see in Romans 6 it concludes
with but the free gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord I Would argue that sometimes
we don't sense God's presence through his grace
Because we're out of touch with the severity
of our own sin, but we think that what we've
done is It isn't that bad, right? Our slothfulness,
eh. Our pride, right? We're actually convinced
that sometimes that's a good thing to be prideful.
Right? Our disobedience, right? Well, hey, I
obey sometimes. I'm more obedient than all these
other people and they're doing pretty well. But
our misunderstanding of our own sin prevents
us from being able to fully understand God's
grace. We're getting in our own way. We're suppressing
what is actually true. and is preventing us from
experiencing the goodness and the comfort and
the assurance of God's grace. And so while we
have to wait a bit to see this trial play out
until Hazael and Jehu enter the picture, Elijah's
next stop is to go find Elisha, picking up in
verse 19. So he departed from there and found
Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with
twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was
with the twelfth. Elijah, passed by him and cast
his cloak upon him and he left the oxen and ran
after Elijah and said let me kiss my father and
my mother and then I will follow you and he said
to him go back again for what have I done to
you and he returned from following him and took
the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled
their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave
it to the people and they ate then he arose and
went after Elijah and assisted him. Alright,
so Elijah has called out to God pleading with
him twice saying that he was alone Right. This
is despite the fact that everybody who witnessed
the God standoff fell on their faces at the Lord
He is God right despite the fact that apparently
he had a servant traveling with him the whole
time that he had left behind in Beersheba and
despite the fact that they were actually seven
thousand Israelites who were still faithful to
God and Yet Elijah felt alone And so God gives
him a companion to train and to walk alongside
him And this brings us to our final point this
evening in times of how in times of trouble God
comforts us with his presence and that is that
God makes his presence known through his people
right Elisha appears excited right he's out working
in the field and Elijah Comes by him and tosses
his cloak on him, right? It takes him as it takes
him a minute to kind of reorient figure out what
happened because he has to run and catch up to
Elijah and he says hold up let me say goodbye
to my parents and Then what we actually get is
this sort of display of being all -in by Elisha,
right? He's obvious out. He's out working in
the field during this time which would make him
a farmer right a lot of his worldly riches and
and what worldly well -being would have been
tied to the wealth, or sorry, the health of his
oxen. Right, he's obviously doing pretty well
for himself. He has 12 yokes of oxen, right,
so two per yoke, you have 24 oxen, pretty big
field going on. And yet what does he do when
called? He ditches it all. He sacrifices the
oxen. He feeds presumably, you know, the people
of his village or town, and then Elisha spends
the last approximately six years or so alongside
Elijah in his ministry before Elijah finally
gets taken up by that whirlwind. So God makes
his presence known through his people. And we
too are to be reminded of this as we come together
as a church family. God's presence is made known
to us by gifting us the church body, that we
may encourage one another, bearing one another's
burdens, like we read in Colossians, breaking
bread with one another, praying for one another,
loving one another. And this church was exactly
that for my family last summer as we're navigating
some familial health concerns that it took me
away from my home for a week. Naturally, that's
the week before Caroline and I are about to travel
out to Kansas to pick up Cecilia. This was uncharted
territory for us in a time of great stress and
uncertainty and yet a time that I've never been
more sure of God's presence in our life. Because
of the encouragement and the love poured out
by his body for us in that time, whether it was
coming and cutting our grass while we were away
or dropping off meals before and after we were
back. The Lord makes his presence known through
his people. And so as we wrap up here, I think
it's important that we remember these things
practically, right, to help us actually be comforted
in these times of desperation or loneliness.
I think we tend to intellectually understand
that God is omnipresent. He's everywhere, so
He should be here. But it's typically in these
moments of desperation and great stress that
we forget to go to Him. We accept the lie of
our flesh, or Satan, that we are left alone and
to fend for ourselves. But God does not leave
His people. The reminders of His presence are
all around, through His provision, through His
Word, His grace. and through his people. And
the Lord uses these things to bring us great
comfort. Let's pray. Definitely, Father, we thank
you for your word that we get to read it and
study it and to learn more about you and your
character, God, that you do not leave us alone
and that you actually leave several reminders
for us in these times of loneliness and desperation.
That the that the answer to the question God.
Are you there is an overwhelming? Yes And so
God we thank you for that assurance that we have
And we pray that you remind us of that in the
weeks to come and God. We love you. Thank you.
Amen All right Thanks everyone. See you Saturday
if you're coming to heartstrings Mother's Day
tea or Sunday. I will not be at Mother's Day
team surprisingly