What Are You Doing Here?

This morning I was reading about Elijah… fleeing for his life from the threats of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. Stressed, depressed and suicidal, he eats a bit, drinks a bit, sleeps a bit, keeps running, and finds a cave in ‘The Mountain of God’.

God asks: ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ Elijah explains how he’s got to where he is –tells his story, describes his faith, his successes, his fears, his current situation that’s beyond his control…

Musing… ‘What are you doing here, Malcolm?’ I reflect on my past – family, friends, work, stuff that’s happened that’s brought me to the ‘here’ of today. I reflect on my current relationships, responsibilities, challenges, anxieties, joys…

God says to Elijah: ‘Stand on the mountain… The Lord is about to pass by’. The Lord isn’t in the great wind shatters the rocks… The Lord isn’t in the earthquake that shakes the mountain… The Lord isn’t in the fire that burns the vegetation… Then comes a still small voice…

Musing… the verse of the old hymn:

Breathe through the heats of our desire
thy coolness and thy balm;
let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.

The God who brings calm and peace… I want the story to end there…

God asks again: ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ Elijah looks back, tells his story again… God moves him on. It’s now a question about his future. Elijah can’t stay where he is. 

Musing…

…my plans, my intentions, my hopes for the future. I’m challenged by what I’m doing with my life. If I’ve heard God’s gentle whisper what am I going to do about it – no avoidance, diversions or excuses. Answer the question!

…It’s personal. ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ Elijah’s named. Last week it was the risen Jesus calling, ‘Mary’. It’s not a general enquiry from God.

…The question returns: ‘What are you doing here, Malcolm?’ I must give my personal response.