What are you doing here?

          What are you doing here? This question makes me think several things when I have been asked. Sometimes I have thought, “Well, I must not be wanted.” Other times I quickly blurt out my purpose. Still other times I have just kind of stood there wondering what the asker wants the askee to say. For example when Tammy and I visited my parents after Jordan was born and we didn’t have either of their grandchildren, my dad asks, “Where are the kids?” to which I respond, we don’t have them. And before I could explain why, my dad responded, “What are you doing here then?” Lots of love!

            God asked Elijah this question. This in my mind is kind of disconcerting seeing that God should already know and then I realize He was asking for Elijah’s sake and not His own. But the story is fascinating. Here is the synopsis. Elijah has just prayed down fire from heaven and embarrassed all the king’s prophets and preachers because they couldn’t do it. Then to add insult to the already injured, he prayed down rain. He did this because everybody knows that you can only put out the fire of God with the rain of God (haha, I just made that one up). After praying down all the stuff out of the sky King Ahab was pretty mad at Elijah. And that was his name. It wasn’t Ahabiam, or Ahabishish, or anything like that. You know how today young people like to shorten your name that way. Some of them call me B-rad. Well, his name was Ahab. And he was upset so he went home and complained to his wife Jezebel. Jezebel decided she would take care of her man (or stick her nose in his business, however you want to read the story, it’s your bible too) and sent a message to Elijah that she was going to kill him.

            This is the interesting part of the narrative that we may all be guilty of. Elijah has prayed and God answered by fire. He prayed again and God made it rain. He then out ran the king’s chariot on foot. So what does he do to a nosey, overbearing, pain in the… well, what does he do to this woman’s threat? He runs. Yep, he ran! For 40 days he ran and when he got to Mount Sinai he lay down in a cave and went to sleep. Have you ever had those moments of fear? Or insecurity? Or even just not sure if God is with you anymore? I have. I’m not even ashamed to admit it. I completely identify with Elijah. I hope that doesn’t make me a weak Christian but there are times when I just want to quit. Not only quit, but tell everyone that will listen why I am quitting and what part they played in my cowardly, er uh, abrupt departure!

            While Elijah is in the cave, God asks him this question, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

            His answer is what my answer is sometimes. Elijah began to rattle off his resume to God. He spoke of his accomplishments for God. And he reminded God that he was the ONLY one left that was any good and everybody else was against him. I have thought about Elijah a lot lately. How did he get to where he is in the story?  He obviously prayed. He obviously hadn’t committed some gross immorality. He was visibly a good guy that really had done some great things for God and now here he is ready to give up. But I believe his problem is sometimes my problem. He was looking at himself instead of looking at God and what God had planned for him. But, as God does, God gave Elijah an opportunity to turn his attitude around. God simply said to Elijah, “Go and stand on the mountain”. Then the mighty power of God was on display. Wind so strong that it blew large rocks off the mountain. An incredible earthquake. And then, a great fire. After the fire, a gentle whisper.

            And here is the part that scares me. God had called Elijah to stand on the mountain so he could see His mighty power but verse 13 of 1 Kings 19 is very telling about where Elijah was. Verse 13 says that then Elijah went out of the cave. He missed it! He missed the power of God, the move of God because he was stuck in a cave of self-pity, fear, and insecurity. He missed it! And even worse, after the move of God that had just taken place, God asked him again, “What are you doing here, Elijah!”

            Surely after such a display Elijah would repent and go back to work. Surely after being reminded of God’s awesomeness he would buck up and fight! Surely he would! Wouldn’t he? But Elijah answered the exact way that he had answered before. Same words; no change. He never allowed the wind of God to blow away his self-pity. He wouldn’t let the earthquake shake his fear. And the fire of God had no affect on his insecurity. So, what did God do? He replaced Elijah. I believe that verse 16 is open to interpretation but here is a list of what different versions say about Elisha coming on the ministerial board of 1 Kings. God told Elijah to…

…anoint Elisha to…

NLT – replace you as my prophet

NIV – succeed you as prophet

KJV – to be prophet in thy room

ESV – to be prophet in your place

NCV – to make him a prophet in your place

I am not, nor do I claim to be, a biblical scholar but what I see is a man that refused to come out of the cave and God said, “That’s enough; I can no longer use you.”

            Troubling stuff if you ask me! This causes me to not stay in self-pity too long. It can be inspirational if you’ll let it. You see, God knows when you’re down and I believe that He will do over and above what we deserve to bring us back, encourage us, and even strengthen us! I believe that God is calling the hurting to go stand on the mountain. That is our part. Get up and get moving. Get out of the cave and do something. God will show up in His way in His time!

            Then when He asks again, “What are you doing here?”

            You just might have an answer and it may go something like this…

“I’ve been feeling sorry for myself, Lord. I got stuck focusing on my problems and shortcomings instead of your greatness. Thank you for believing in me enough to show off when you helped me pay rent last month. When you kept my family safe in that car accident. When you gave me this job that I needed but sometimes complain about. When you brought me to a church where I am loved. When you kept me from making that terrible mistake even though I may have been upset at you at the time. Thank you for saving me. If you hadn’t done anything else or you were to never do anything else, I would still need to thank you and words are not sufficient for your love and mercy. I’m coming out of this funk that I have been in and I am going to go as long as you give me strength or until you move me somewhere else. And God, I refuse to move until I know it’s you. I will not blame you for me wanting out of an uncomfortable situation. Thank you. I love you. I choose today to worship you and serve you.

In Jesus’ name, Amen!

 

Pastor Dad