Where do you see God?

There [Elijah] went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.  When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
   
Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."

The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram.  Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.  Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu.  Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel--all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him" (1 Kings 19:9-18).

Elijah lived in a dark and challenging time.  The king and queen of Israel had abandoned God and encouraged their people to do the same.  They worshiped Baal, a god of the Canaanites who supposedly irrigated the fields with rain and destroyed his enemies with lightning.  At a public gathering, Elijah humiliated the priests of Baal; when they prayed to their god to send fire down from heaven and consume their sacrifice, nothing happened.  But when Elijah offered a sacrifice to the Lord, he first soaked it with water; nevertheless, God sent such a hot fire that the water evaporated, the sacrifice was consumed, and the stone altar melted. 

You would think that such a display of God’s power would win Him many converts—but this was not the case.  The king and queen were enraged and put a bounty on Elijah’s head.  Elijah fled to the wilderness and hid in a cave.  His mental state was terrible.  It seemed as if no one else in the world cared about the Lord or served Him. 

It was then that God did something very unusual. The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.  When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. 

Where do you see God at work?  When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, some people said that it was God’s judgment for all the wickedness that went on there.  In particular, they pointed to a gay pride event that had to be canceled because the city was flooded.  They thought that God was in the wind.

Americans aren’t the only ones who feel that way.  On December 26, 2004, a massive earthquake under the Indian Ocean created a wall of water that hit eleven countries and killed over 225,000 people.  But no Muslim nation sent aid to the devastated region; they believe that when disaster strikes, it is the punishment of God, so offering relief is not appropriate. 

Where do you see God at work?  When China was hit by an earthquake in May of 2008, 70,000 people died and over 5 million were left homeless.  Was this an act of God, punishing the Chinese for rejecting Christianity?  Was God in the earthquake?

Where do you see God at work?  In California, vast areas of woodland have burned this summer and many are homeless.  Is this God’s punishment on people who waste their riches on lavish homes, or who embrace the liberal morals of nearby San Francisco and Hollywood?  Was God in the fires?

When the wind tore through the mountains, Elijah did not go out.  When the earthquake made the ground shake, Elijah remained in the cave.  When the fire raged, Elijah did not peek outside.  He knew the Lord was not in those terrible expressions of nature’s fury.  But when the gentle whisper came, Elijah covered His face and stepped outside; he knew that God had arrived and no man dare look Him in the face.

God is not found in the destructive acts of nature.  Nature is already dangerous without God’s help.  At the time of creation, God made everything "very good".  But that goodness was lost when our first parents disobeyed God.  Their sin resulted in a curse—from that time forward, life on earth would be hard, painful, and ended by death.  Earth stopped being a paradise of easy work and comfortable living.  Now life is made hard by rust, rot, mold, drought, and swarms of insects.  Life is painful because of birth defects, disease, and debilitating old age. And it all ends with death, brought about by earthquakes, fires, severe weather, and structural failures.  God does not have to cause these things to happen—they happen on their own.  We are the sinners, yet our world bears the curse of sin along with us.  Paul writes, The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time (Romans 8:19-22).  We look forward to the day when Christ returns and ends all suffering forever; our world hungers for that relief as well.

Of course, some disasters do happen for a reason.  From time to time, Satan gives things a push to make life extra miserable.  And sometimes God brings disaster, like He did at Sodom and Gomorrah.  But when God uses natural disasters to make a point, He always gives a warning first.  Through Noah, He gave the world warning before the Flood.  Through Moses, He gave Pharaoh warning before the ten plagues struck Egypt.  Through Lot, He gave warning to the citizens of Sodom.  Through Elijah, He warned Israel of coming famine.  God always gives warnings so that people might repent and ask for mercy.  Through Jonah, God warned the city of Nineveh that disaster was on its way; but when the people turned away from sin and pleaded for another chance, God forgave them and spared their city.

Sometimes God uses natural disasters to shake us out of our religious apathy.  Tragedies often turn people to God for help and comfort.  But you must remember this—God loves everyone.  In Lamentations chapter 3, Jeremiah says men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.  God does not like using harsh methods to get our attention, but He will do whatever it takes to keep us from blindly marching into hell.  Paul writes, God our Savior…wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4).  So God showers down blessings on everyone, as Jesus said: your Father in heaven…causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45). 

God does not like to shout when a gentle whisper will do.  If you shout at a baby, you will scare it.  If you want the baby to feel reassured, you will speak softly.  But gentle whispers are easily drowned out in our noisy and hectic world.  Should God shout at us more often, show us flashy displays of His mighty power?  It hasn’t worked in the past.  God destroyed all human life in a worldwide flood, yet as soon as Noah was able to raise grapes, he passed out drunk from too much wine.  The Israelites saw Egypt decimated by ten horrible plagues, none of which touched them; they saw the Red Sea part, and walked across on a dry seabed.  Yet only a couple of months later while Moses was away, they made a golden statue of a calf that they could pray to as their god.  Dramatic miracles do not guarantee a faithful response.

God reserves His miracles for believers.  When the Pharisees wanted Jesus to prove Himself by displaying His power, He refused their demand.  When Herod wanted Jesus to entertain Him with some miracles, Jesus refused to perform like a circus act.  Our Lord said, do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs (Matthew 7:6).  Jesus only revealed His power to those who trusted in Him.  Jesus used miracles to build faith in His followers.

God doesn’t speak to us the way we expect Him to.  He spoke through Moses, a man guilty of committing murder.  He spoke through David, who fathered a child by another man’s wife.  Jesus’ words were written down for us by unschooled, ordinary men.  God’s words seem foolish to people who think themselves wise, as Paul tells us: The world through its wisdom did not know him, so God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe (1 Corinthians 1:21).  We expect God to be loud and dramatic, but God is not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire.

Our Lord is where you don’t expect Him to be.  You don’t expect to see the Savior of mankind dying on a cross, naked, humiliated, treated like a criminal.  You don’t expect to touch the Son of God by eating common bread and drinking ordinary wine.  But on that cross, Jesus achieved a spectacular victory; He made up for everything you and I have done wrong.  Through communion bread and wine, our Savior frees us from the past by forgiving our sins, gives us hope for eternal life in paradise with Him, and lends us strength to deal with the problems confronting us today.  Our Lord does His most spectacular work in ways that we would never expect. 

God generally works in small ways that are hardly spectacular.  Do you see God at work in the rising of the morning sun—giving you and the world a new day of life?  Do you see God at work in the food that you eat, food that He made grow?  Do you see God at work when your health improves enough so that you are released from the hospital?  Do you see God at work when you are feeling down, and unexpectedly get a letter or email or phone call from a friend?  Do you see God at work when you accomplish something that you never thought you could do?  Do you see God working quietly in the small things of your life that actually mean a great deal to you?

God said, I will never leave you, I will never turn my back on you (Hebrews 13:5).  He is always around, supporting you quietly and unobtrusively.  But we don’t notice—it’s the big dramatic events that capture our attention.  Just remember this; God doesn’t want to scare you out of your wits. Yes, He wants you to respect Him and fear making Him angry, but He also wants you to call Him Father and regard Jesus as your brother.  So God talks to us gently, like a parent comforting a sick and frightened child.  Keep your eyes open and listen carefully; every day the Lord is at your side, your comforter and your friend.