Wrong Way
Have you ever felt like running away sometimes? Have you ever been going down a path that seemed like the right thing to do, only to find out you were headed in a direction you were never intended to go?
A while back, Sherri was driving the girls to one appointment of many that day, naturally, she was trying to get to all the appointments on time with a fussy child in the back seat. Trying to calm her down and remember where this office was, her mind was going in too many directions at once. So, she was driving down the road and realized she just passed the parking lot for the doctor’s office she’s heading to. So, she quickly made a right turn on the road along the parking lot to get into the parking lot from a different direction. Unfortunately, with all the chaos her mind was experiencing, she did not realize the road she turned on was a ONE WAY STREET. Which would have been okay if she was going the direction of the ONE WAY street, but she was actually going towards the direction of the cars coming at me! Luckily, she realized it quickly enough to safely turn around and head back in the right direction.
Today we are obviously going to talk about going the wrong way…headed in the wrong direction…as our Scripture today talks about. It’s 1 Kings 19:9-18. If you would, please read along with me.
9He entered a cave there and spent the night.
Then the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
10 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of Hosts, but the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life."
11 Then He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the LORD's presence."
At that moment, the LORD passed by. A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs 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. 12 After the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper. 13 When Elijah heard [it], he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
Suddenly, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
14 "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of Hosts," he replied, "but the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they're looking for me to take my life."
15 Then the LORD said to him, "Go and return by the way you came to the Wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, you are to anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16 You are to anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. 17 Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu. 18 But I will leave 7,000 in Israel —every knee that has not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him."
Right square off the heels of a victory over the prophets of Baal, Elijah was facing death. His life was being threatened because of what he had done to overcome those prophets. Elijah, when receiving word from a messenger from Jezebel, took off; away from Jezreel to Beer-sheba; leaving his servant there he took off a day’s journey into the wilderness. After sleeping, he awoke to the touch of an Angel of the Lord. After eating, drinking, sleeping, and eating and drinking again, Elijah then took a 40 days and nights journey to Horeb, the mountain of God.
This is where we find Elijah and the Lord speaking in our verse today. The Lord asks him what he’s doing there. Elijah give his explanation, then the Lord tells him to go to the mouth of the cave where he will pass by. Elijah was told to do the very same thing that God did with Moses centuries earlier. Elijah was going to experience the Lord’s glory. Upon a great wind, earthquake and fire, the Lord wasn’t in any of them. Yet, he was in the calmness afterwards. Last week we talked about being busy and focusing on Jesus. Losing focus means we will start sinking…prior to September 1, 2001, we were sinking and had no idea. The event that shook the nation, changed our outlook. It refocused us in on what is really important. Through this all, everyone asked, “Where is God?”
I believe the answer to that question lies here in our Scripture for today. God isn’t in the chaos. He isn’t in the earthquakes, winds, fires or terrorist planes…he’s in the silence, comforting us afterwards. Going the wrong way can be a costly move. The Hebrews were doing exactly that. In Israel, they had abandoned everything God taught them. They were worshipping Baal, constructing Asherah poles, building altars to foreign gods…they had abandoned God. The Hebrew people were going the wrong way. As a result, Elijah found himself in harm’s way…like so many other prophets of God.
Elijah found himself running away from there, experiencing an angel of the Lord, who took him deep into the desert…to solitude. Elijah was alone with God…again after all of the chaos of the winds, earthquake and fire, God asks him again the same question.
I kinda get the feeling God doesn’t think Elijah should be out there. Yet, God instructs him to do three things. Anoint a new King over Aram, anoint a new King over Israel, and then anoint Elisha as the new prophet. The rest will be done by those Elijah will institute. God said he’s preserved 7,000 in Israel and the rest will be put to death.
Apparently, there are major consequences to going the wrong direction. Even Elijah went the wrong way. No he wasn’t worshipping Baal or anything, but he was on the run. He was depressed and ready for God to kill him. In that little cave…in the silence after the chaos is when God reached him. That’s when God turned him around, got him back on the right path and headed the right direction.
For me this week, this has caused a lot of great in-depth thinking. One of the questions that I found this week posed this question. “Some people think that Elijah was led into the wilderness on purpose by God so that way he could teach him. Does that idea pose anything to ring true in your life?”
My friends, I now pose that question to you. Does it ring true in your life? Can you look back on your life and find point where God led you to a place where he could teach you? There is a point in my life where I was at rock bottom that I could see God teaching me very shortly after. Had God led me there so that I could be taught?
My friends, I don’t want to suggest that God is behind every struggle in our lives. I don’t think that is the case. Sometimes we just need to be led away from the chaos into solitude where God can reach us without any distractions. Doors close, windows close, and yet another window and door opens for us down the line.
There was a point in his life during his 50’s where he found it very difficult to find work in Hollywood. His personal finances became increasingly tighter. He finally wrote in an article for Guideposts that he and his wife Cindi decided things would be easier if they moved back home to North Carolina…Andy’s hometown. So, they put their house up for sale and waited. Well, with the housing market down, nothing happened. Months passed and Andy grew depressed.
Then one day, the Lord gave Cindi and insight. She told Andy that maybe it’s a good thing they couldn’t sell the house. She suggested that, “perhaps it was God’s grace shining through teaching them. If you moved back to North Carolina, it’s quite possible you’d would never work again. What we need to do is stay here and stoke the fire.” Well, keep working is what they did. They visited Andy’s talent agency day after day that represented him. They sat in the lobby, chatted with agents and went to lunch with them. Eventually, work started to come in. He made four movies that year including the pilot for Matlock. As you remember, Matlock ran for 9 years.
Sometimes those closed doors are the key to keeping you on the right track. Way too many times in my life I’ve had hair brained ideas. Thankfully, some of them never came to fruition.
What ‘failures’ have you had in the recent past that perhaps are keeping you on track? I really want you to keep all of this in mind…not just for the past, but for the future as well. Trials come…our attitude towards them can make a difference. If we see a closed door for what it truly is…it will keep us on the right track or get us turned around going back down the right one.
Upon asking Sherri to refresh my memory on this “One Way Street” incident, she said something that really made me realize that she had applied this before she heard me give the sermon! She said that it reminded her of our walk with God, we sometimes get so busy and our mind is so out of focus that we turn down a wrong way street. But thankfully, God is always there to help us turn around and start to go back in the right direction. She applied last week’s sermon to this one without hearing it…and it was exactly what I’m going for. Let me say it again. We sometimes get so busy and our mind is so out of focus that we turn down a wrong way street. But thankfully, God is always there to help us turn around and start to go back in the right direction.
A while back, Sherri was driving the girls to one appointment of many that day, naturally, she was trying to get to all the appointments on time with a fussy child in the back seat. Trying to calm her down and remember where this office was, her mind was going in too many directions at once. So, she was driving down the road and realized she just passed the parking lot for the doctor’s office she’s heading to. So, she quickly made a right turn on the road along the parking lot to get into the parking lot from a different direction. Unfortunately, with all the chaos her mind was experiencing, she did not realize the road she turned on was a ONE WAY STREET. Which would have been okay if she was going the direction of the ONE WAY street, but she was actually going towards the direction of the cars coming at me! Luckily, she realized it quickly enough to safely turn around and head back in the right direction.
Today we are obviously going to talk about going the wrong way…headed in the wrong direction…as our Scripture today talks about. It’s 1 Kings 19:9-18. If you would, please read along with me.
9He entered a cave there and spent the night.
Then the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
10 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of Hosts, but the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life."
11 Then He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the LORD's presence."
At that moment, the LORD passed by. A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs 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. 12 After the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper. 13 When Elijah heard [it], he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
Suddenly, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
14 "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of Hosts," he replied, "but the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they're looking for me to take my life."
15 Then the LORD said to him, "Go and return by the way you came to the Wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, you are to anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16 You are to anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. 17 Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu. 18 But I will leave 7,000 in Israel —every knee that has not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him."
Right square off the heels of a victory over the prophets of Baal, Elijah was facing death. His life was being threatened because of what he had done to overcome those prophets. Elijah, when receiving word from a messenger from Jezebel, took off; away from Jezreel to Beer-sheba; leaving his servant there he took off a day’s journey into the wilderness. After sleeping, he awoke to the touch of an Angel of the Lord. After eating, drinking, sleeping, and eating and drinking again, Elijah then took a 40 days and nights journey to Horeb, the mountain of God.
This is where we find Elijah and the Lord speaking in our verse today. The Lord asks him what he’s doing there. Elijah give his explanation, then the Lord tells him to go to the mouth of the cave where he will pass by. Elijah was told to do the very same thing that God did with Moses centuries earlier. Elijah was going to experience the Lord’s glory. Upon a great wind, earthquake and fire, the Lord wasn’t in any of them. Yet, he was in the calmness afterwards. Last week we talked about being busy and focusing on Jesus. Losing focus means we will start sinking…prior to September 1, 2001, we were sinking and had no idea. The event that shook the nation, changed our outlook. It refocused us in on what is really important. Through this all, everyone asked, “Where is God?”
I believe the answer to that question lies here in our Scripture for today. God isn’t in the chaos. He isn’t in the earthquakes, winds, fires or terrorist planes…he’s in the silence, comforting us afterwards. Going the wrong way can be a costly move. The Hebrews were doing exactly that. In Israel, they had abandoned everything God taught them. They were worshipping Baal, constructing Asherah poles, building altars to foreign gods…they had abandoned God. The Hebrew people were going the wrong way. As a result, Elijah found himself in harm’s way…like so many other prophets of God.
Elijah found himself running away from there, experiencing an angel of the Lord, who took him deep into the desert…to solitude. Elijah was alone with God…again after all of the chaos of the winds, earthquake and fire, God asks him again the same question.
I kinda get the feeling God doesn’t think Elijah should be out there. Yet, God instructs him to do three things. Anoint a new King over Aram, anoint a new King over Israel, and then anoint Elisha as the new prophet. The rest will be done by those Elijah will institute. God said he’s preserved 7,000 in Israel and the rest will be put to death.
Apparently, there are major consequences to going the wrong direction. Even Elijah went the wrong way. No he wasn’t worshipping Baal or anything, but he was on the run. He was depressed and ready for God to kill him. In that little cave…in the silence after the chaos is when God reached him. That’s when God turned him around, got him back on the right path and headed the right direction.
For me this week, this has caused a lot of great in-depth thinking. One of the questions that I found this week posed this question. “Some people think that Elijah was led into the wilderness on purpose by God so that way he could teach him. Does that idea pose anything to ring true in your life?”
My friends, I now pose that question to you. Does it ring true in your life? Can you look back on your life and find point where God led you to a place where he could teach you? There is a point in my life where I was at rock bottom that I could see God teaching me very shortly after. Had God led me there so that I could be taught?
My friends, I don’t want to suggest that God is behind every struggle in our lives. I don’t think that is the case. Sometimes we just need to be led away from the chaos into solitude where God can reach us without any distractions. Doors close, windows close, and yet another window and door opens for us down the line.
There was a point in his life during his 50’s where he found it very difficult to find work in Hollywood. His personal finances became increasingly tighter. He finally wrote in an article for Guideposts that he and his wife Cindi decided things would be easier if they moved back home to North Carolina…Andy’s hometown. So, they put their house up for sale and waited. Well, with the housing market down, nothing happened. Months passed and Andy grew depressed.
Then one day, the Lord gave Cindi and insight. She told Andy that maybe it’s a good thing they couldn’t sell the house. She suggested that, “perhaps it was God’s grace shining through teaching them. If you moved back to North Carolina, it’s quite possible you’d would never work again. What we need to do is stay here and stoke the fire.” Well, keep working is what they did. They visited Andy’s talent agency day after day that represented him. They sat in the lobby, chatted with agents and went to lunch with them. Eventually, work started to come in. He made four movies that year including the pilot for Matlock. As you remember, Matlock ran for 9 years.
Sometimes those closed doors are the key to keeping you on the right track. Way too many times in my life I’ve had hair brained ideas. Thankfully, some of them never came to fruition.
What ‘failures’ have you had in the recent past that perhaps are keeping you on track? I really want you to keep all of this in mind…not just for the past, but for the future as well. Trials come…our attitude towards them can make a difference. If we see a closed door for what it truly is…it will keep us on the right track or get us turned around going back down the right one.
Upon asking Sherri to refresh my memory on this “One Way Street” incident, she said something that really made me realize that she had applied this before she heard me give the sermon! She said that it reminded her of our walk with God, we sometimes get so busy and our mind is so out of focus that we turn down a wrong way street. But thankfully, God is always there to help us turn around and start to go back in the right direction. She applied last week’s sermon to this one without hearing it…and it was exactly what I’m going for. Let me say it again. We sometimes get so busy and our mind is so out of focus that we turn down a wrong way street. But thankfully, God is always there to help us turn around and start to go back in the right direction.
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