Come out of the cellar!
With the recent tornadoes in our home state of Oklahoma, I couldn’t help but write a devotion that addressed this topic! The tornado that hit El Reno, Oklahoma was a whopping 2.6 miles across and traveled 16.2 miles at a rotation speed of nearly 300mph,
making it the largest twister in recorded US history.
Over the years, tornadoes have done some mighty strange things. For example, in Great Bend, Kansas, a grocery store’s south wall was totally blown away, yet the shelves and canned goods along that wall stood undisturbed. A full, unbroken sack of flour from a local mill was found 110 miles northeast of that same town. Another amazing occurrence happened some years ago in Alabama. A resident searching through piles of debris discovered the page from a hymnal with the words: “I’ve anchored in Jesus, the storms of life I’ll brave. I’ve anchored in Jesus, I fear no wind or wave. I’ve anchored in Jesus, for He hath power to save. I’ve anchored to the Rock of Ages.” Isn’t it amazing that as that hymnal was being swept away by violent winds, the Lord left a reminder that our hope is not in this world but in the Rock of Ages?
Once a tornado begins moving toward a particular area, the local residents abandon their homes and run for the storm cellar. Now let me tell you, a cellar is not the place to stretch out and relax! Not only are they usually small, but they feel even smaller when you start seeing big hairy spiders crawling around you! So it’s a choice between babysitting spiders or being blown away by the fury of a tornado.
The cellar can also be a lonely place. Huddled down inside that dark place, it’s easy to feel that you’ve been forgotten by the rest of the world. In 1 Kings chapter 19, we find the prophet Elijah sitting in a spiritual storm cellar. This great man of God had just experienced a great victory on Mount Carmel, and topped it off with the first rain in three years. Then the tornado showed up. Jezebel vows to kill the prophet by the next day and sends Elijah running for cover. In retreating, the prophet traveled over 100 miles to Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai. By verse 9, we find Elijah hiding in a cave. When God asks what he was doing there, we see the spiders of self pity crawling around him in verse 10.
“And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
Elijah was so low spiritually, that he felt he was the only one left! But don’t you love God’s response? God gave him a demonstration from which we should all learn. First, by a great wind. Second, by an earthquake. Third, by a fire. In every instance, scripture says that God was not in any of these. Then….comes a still small voice. A voice not with great volume, but with power. More powerful than the great wind. More powerful than the earthquake. And more powerful than the fire! I feel that God used fire to remind Elijah of the miracle on Mount Carmel. The great fire that consumed the sacrifice, the altar, and even licked up the dust, was only a sign from God, but it was not God Himself. When we are expecting a visitation from God, we should not look at all the elements that dazzle the eyes. Your most powerful encounters with God Almighty come by way of that still small voice. Elijah was so awestruck by this voice that he covered his face with his mantle.
Then God told the prophet that there was still work to be done and gave him a mission to fulfill. Friend, the poison of self pity cannot affect a child of God who is focused on a specific mission. Let me clarify that God takes pleasure and even sanctions times of rest for His laborers. The problem was that Elijah didn’t run to the cave to rest, but he ran to the cave to retreat! The question must be asked as God did to Elijah: “What are you doing here?”
Aren’t you glad that Elijah obeyed God and came out his spiritual “storm cellar?” This once discouraged prophet would not even experience a natural death! 2 Kings 2:11 tells us that when Elijah’s mission was complete, he was translated into Heaven by a chariot of fire. What a glorious ending for this man of God.
So come out of the cellar, hiding soul! God will take care of the tornado if you will just take that step of faith – come out from your hiding!