6/22/14 A.M. I Kings 19:1-14
Where is God Today?
I believe some of us if not most of us have asked this question. God, where are you at? or
Where were you at?
When mama got sick and passed away.
When the baby got sick and healing didn’t come quick enough for our liking.
When the car wreck happened.
When the house burned.
When the layoff slip came.
When pain, disease, and sickness come.
God, where are you at? I imagine this might be the question Elijah was asking. He felt all alone and Jezebel wanted to kill him. He was tired of the fight and just wanted to die. But God wasn’t finished with him quite yet. LET’S PRAY
I Kings 19:1-14
(I) Verse 11. Elijah didn't feel the presence of God in this wind. A great mighty powerful wind. I think of a tornado or hurricane. The wind is picking up rocks and sticks and pelting anything that dares stand up to it. God was not in this wind, but sometimes He is in the wind. When we need a Great, Mighty, Strong, Powerful God HE IS THERE.
A. In 1 Samuel 17 David needed a strong mighty God to help him face Goliath. Go into it...
B. In Exodus 14 The C of I came up to the Red Sea......They needed a strong mighty God.
Verses 14-16 “ The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
15 And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
VERSE 21 "And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided."
When there is NO WAY things can work out HE WILL WORK THEM OUT. When all the world may be AGAINST US…… HE IS FOR US. ROMANS 8:31 "If God be for us…." When a BATTLE comes up that we have to fight, He’ll FIGHT it for us.
HE IS A STRONG, POWERFUL, MIGHTY GOD.
(II) Verse 11. Elijah didn't feel God in this earthquake. A great shaking. The plates in the ground were shifting and everything around was moving. Elijah didn’t sense that the Lord was in this earthquake, but sometimes He is. Sometimes God does things to get our attention. He may have to shake us up a bit to make us realize what He wants for our life.
A. When Jonah boarded the boat for Tarshish instead of Nineveh things got a little rough and he wound up in the belly of a great big fish. GOD GOT HIS ATTENTION
B. In Exodus 4 Moses begins to doubt God’s plan for the Children of Israel and what does God do? Go into it......
C. Paul and Silas at Philippi in acts 16. Go into it…… God was in that earthquake.
It may not be pleasant and we may not like it, but at times it is necessary. There may be times God has to take us to the wood shed. GO INTO IT........ GOD WAS NOT IN THIS EARTHQUAKE, BUT SOMETIMES HE IS.
(III) Verse 12. God was not in this fire. Fire is something that is all consuming. Scientists tell us there is NOTHING that will not burn if enough heat is applied. God was not in this fire, but He will be with us through the fire we face in our life.
A. Daniel 3. Go into it... The three Hebrew children, S M and A weren’t spared the fiery furnace. They didn't bend, they didn't bow, they didn't burn. But Jesus was there with them IN THE FIRE!!!
B. The refiner’s fire is used to purify gold and silver. At times we go through tough times, we go through the fire to be purified for His use. The blacksmith will apply heat to metal to temper it. It makes it harder and more durable and more useable.
God allows us to be tried and tested so that we may be more durable and useable for Him. Each time we go through a trial, we learn from it. We learn that we can trust God. We learn that HE will never leave us. We learn that He will never put more on us than we can bear. WE BECOME MORE PURE AND USEABLE TO HIM.
I Peter 1:7 " That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:"
(IV) VERSE 12 and 13. That day as Elijah stood on the mount before God he did not sense God in the wind, earthquake, or fire, but he did sense Him in a still small voice.
I know there are folks here this morning who have faced some really hard times. There may be those here who are going through the toughest battle you’ve ever faced right now. When times are at their toughest this is how God speaks to us. In a still small voice.
Verse 1
Sometimes when misgivings darken my way,
And faith's light I just can not see;
Then I asked the dear Lord,
"Please brighten my way",
He whispers sweet peace to me.
Verse 2
I could not go on without Him I know,
The world would o'erwhelm my soul;
For I could not see the right way to go,
When temptations o'er me roll.
Verse 3
I trust Him through faith, by faith hold His hand,
And sometimes my faith is weak,
And then when I ask Him to take command,
It seems that I hear Him speak,
Verse 4
He speaks in a still, small voice we are told,
A voice that dispels all fear;
And when I'm in doubt, or troubled in soul,
That still small voice I can hear.
Chorus
He whispers sweet peace to me,
He whispers sweet peace to me,
When I am cast down in spirit and soul,
He whispers sweet peace to me.
Folks, we need a big powerful God at times to fight for us. We need God to shake us up sometimes to get our attention. We need the refiner’s fire to purify us and make us what He wants us to be. But you know what Elijah needed right now? He needed that still small voice to speak sweet peace to him.
Are you here this morning and Oh how you need to hear that sweet voice of God this morning. I don't know what you're going through. Grief, Indecision, Pain, Sickness, Fear, but I do know a God who will speak sweet peace to you. LET'S PRAY
