The Little Cloud in a Great Big Sky
I Kings 18:41-46
INTRODUCTION: Elijah was a prophet, a man of God, who was appointed by God to preach and to prophecy in the land. There was a drought for three years. We could relate to his by saying, “there has been a recession in the land for three years—something of long standing. People suffered. There was a famine in the land. The people were weary of it. Enough was enough. Actually it came about because the people had turned from God. There was sin that needed to be dealt with first because the people were praying to Baal. Ahab said to Elijah, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”
Elijah said, “I have not made trouble for Israel but you have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed Baal.”
You and the people have gotten off on the wrong track. It came to a showdown between Baal and God. When Baal didn’t answer their pleas, Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord which was in ruins and made a sacrifice unto God and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, let it be known today that you are the God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
At that, the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice. When the people saw this, they acknowledged God and said, “The Lord—He is God!” At that time the prophets of Baal were all seized and killed.
The root problem—the sin had been dealt with. But the problem of no rain had not been dealt with. It was the very same as the day before. So they were still facing the same thing. The famine was still going on. No crops could grow. Things were still like they had been for the past three years.
Today’s scripture starts here in I Kings 18:41-46:
“And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.’” Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.
“There is nothing there,” he said.
Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”
So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”
Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. The power of the Lord came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
Elijah said to Ahab a turnaround is on the way because there is the sound of heavy rain. What would you have thought if you had heard this news? There could be a variety of reactions.
I don’t hear any sound of rain.
It hasn’t rained for three years—what makes him think today will be any different?
What does he know about it?
Elijah spoke out the prophetic word—there is a sound of abundance of rain. Many times God is telling us to DECLARE something by faith and speak it out before we see or hear the slightest indication of anything happening. Apparently Ahab believed what Elijah told him because he got up and ate.
Then Elijah went to the top of Mount Carmel with his servant. He got down on his knees and prayed then told his servant to go look toward the sea.
The servant went down and looked toward the sea and came back and said, “there is nothing. No sign of rain.” What happens when we go look and nothing has happened? We might say,
Maybe I missed God. Maybe this was not God telling me that. Maybe it is not God’s will. Maybe it is not possible. Maybe…
The devil brings doubt in when we are looking.
There was a sign on a shoe store that said, “Shoes repaired here—a miracle takes a little longer.”
Elijah said, “Go look again.” It doesn’t say how long it was before he went back the second time. It might have been an hour or five minutes. He came back a second time and said, “There is nothing.” It doesn’t say what Elijah thought or felt when there was still nothing.
What about the times when we pray and the answer doesn’t come one way or another. There is nothing at all. You apply for a job and don’t even hear back from the application. Just nothing. You go to the doctor and don’t get your test results. Days go by. Nothing. You think, They must not be interested in me” or “It must be a bad report.”
Elijah didn’t seem to be concerned about it because he sent the servant back a third time—nothing, a fourth time—nothing, a fifth time—nothing. Should he just give up and go home? No, there is no indication of that. Sometimes our answer doesn’t come right away.
ILLUSTRATION: I remember when I was growing up in the church and people were prayed for. They thought if they were not healed immediately that they didn’t get healed. Sometimes the healing is gradual. Hang in there—Elijah did. He sent the servant back a sixth time and still there was nothing. A big fat zero.
Did the servant even know what he was looking for? Do we look for God in our situation but don’t know what to look for? We often walk right by what God is trying to show us and miss it all together.
ILLUSTRATION: There is a museum at Marietta that we used to go to. All kinds of history, but I never picked up on it. It wasn’t significant to me. I didn’t know the background information.
Oral Roberts used to say, “Miracles pass us by every day.” We’ve got to tune in on what God is trying to say to us or show us. The servant would have missed it if he hadn’t been looking for something and wasn’t persistent.
Elijah pressed him to go back a seventh time. “Go and look again.” Perk up your ears. Go look again. Open up your eyes.
The servant came back this time and said, “Behold there is a little cloud—like a man’s hand…”
Elijah did not belittle the fact that it was a very small cloud in a great big sky. It was the beginning of a bigger storm cloud—the answer was beginning to take shape.
We may shrug off the beginning of God’s answer to us. “Oh, it’s only a part time job, oh, it just pays minimum wage. It is only a couple days a week…” We often prevent things from opening up because we think it doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. We might say, “I’m a little better today, but I’m still not well.”
ILLUSTRATION: I remember the time when Mom had lobar pneumonia. Day after day she seemed no better. Actually she was a whole lot sicker than we thought she was. I would say, “Are you any better?” and she would say, “I’m no worse.” So I took that to mean that she wasn’t going to die. I kept asking, “Are you any better today?” And one day she answered, “I think I am a little bit better. That little bit was a whole lot to us. I imagine the cloud the size of a man’s hand was a lot to the servant who had been looking and looking and saw no sign of rain. Finally there was a little sign of rain.
What do you do with a little bit?
ILLUSTRATION: When our cat reports to his treat station, he thinks a little treat is better than no treat and he is quick to accept it and come back for more later.
We must thank God for sending the little bit—the little cloud—the part-time job—the little bit of improvement in our health—more will come if we value what God is starting to do.
Joyce Meyer says, “The power of God is working in me and I am getting better every day.”
The little cloud speaks to me of hope. When we are waiting on God, we need hope to have something to look forward to. Sometimes people will say, “The situation is just hopeless—nothing is going to happen.” When you have hope, you can wait for it to happen. There is a scripture in Proverbs 13:12 that says, “hope deferred makes the heart sick.” You’ve got to have hope while you are waiting or you will end up depressed and giving up.
Let’s review what has occurred so far:
1. The sin was dealt with
2. The pronouncement that rain was on the way was made
3. Look for it
4. Be persistent and keep focused
5. Have hope
6. Have faith and take action
The servant had already seen some visible results though a very small sign of rain so he didn’t need to keep going back to look. Elijah sent him to tell Ahab something, “Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.”
This reminds me of weather reports on the news—“Take cover, go to a storm shelter, get to a safe place because high winds are coming—a flash flood is predicted.”
Many times people completely ignore the warnings, and when the storm comes they can’t get out and are trapped. Remember Katrina and other dangerous weather events. Had they followed the warnings, they would have been spared.
Elijah said, “tell Ahab to ‘hitch up his chariot’ and get down while he still can.” And, believe it or not, Ahab listened, and he believed Elijah and took action. He traveled to Jezreel and got there none too soon, for the sky grew black and the wind picked up and there was a deluge of rain. It is a good thing Ahab wasn’t a procrastinator.
You know how this summer we have had rain move in very quickly and the sky becomes dark and strong winds blow. The weather report awhile back predicted high damaging winds, and I moved all of my Christmas cactus down on the floor of the porch so they wouldn’t get all mangled up.
Elijah had faith that God would send the needed rain. Ahab believed that he needed to take action to get down off the mountain before he was stuck there. Elijah it says, “tucked his cloak into his belt” and headed down toward Jezreel. It’s like saying, “he buttoned up his coat and headed on out.”
CONCLUSION: These verses speak to us today. God is with us in spite of our present circumstances. We have His Word to stand on. There will be a turnaround if we are persistent to look for it. He sometimes gives us a little sign—the little cloud. He gives us hope as we wait for our answer. Don’t disregard the little bit. When there is seemingly nothing, the little bit amounts to a whole lot. Believe the promises of God—have faith and nothing shall be impossible. Take action when He prompts you to take action. The results will come. Shall we pray:
