God in Quiet Sounds, Part 1

This post, and part 2, are based on a Sunday School lesson I taught on 1 Kings 19.

As I was reading the lesson, I was reminded of what it was like a little more than a year ago,  at the beginning of the pandemic.  Think back with me.

1. If you watched the news at the time, there might have been a  count of the people who had died  so far, or were sick so far.  It was small compared to now, but at the time, it seemed large.
2. I remember being told not to gather in groups of more than 25 or so, then 10 or so, and then to  just stay home.
3. I remember going out early on Saturday mornings to the grocery store.  Steve and I would get  up at around 7:00 and go shopping, thinking that there would be fewer people there, and that  there might be more food.  I remember toilet paper shortages, and one Saturday when the only  meet seemed to be shaved steak. I remember taking Josh grocery shopping when he was home  for spring break – and we could find ramen noodles.  There were lots of empty shelves.
4. I remember the stock market dropping – some days so fast that they would stop trading.

What do you remember?

What did it feel like? How did you react emotionally?

1. I couldn’t watch the news.  If we were, I would feel anxiety building, and I would have to  physically leave the space.
2. I remember anxiety and grief – alternating.  Tension headaches.
3. I remember when there were times when it was hard to sleep

I want to bring this to mind as we look at the scripture for the day, which is 1 Kings 19:9-18

The passage is about the prophet Elijah.  He is a prophet in the Northern Kingdom, during the reign of  Ahab and Jezebel.  Altars are being torn down, and prophets of God are being killed.  Elizah is the only remaining one.  He confronts Ahab and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.  It’s a bloody scene –  read it in Chapter 18.  It ends with the death of 450 prophets of Baal and Jezebel threatening to kill  Elijah.  

Elijah flees and goes by himself into the wilderness.  He is frightened.

Verses 4-8 of 1 Kings 19

4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary  broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no  better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel  touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked  on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 The angel of the Lord came  a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for  you.” 8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty  nights to Horeb the mount of God.

What does this passage tell you about the nature of God?  For me, it reminds me that God is caring, not judgmental.  And that God is a God who sends us forth.

Have you ever felt God’s presence through the gift of a meal?  I remember when my mother-in-law died.  Even though she and my father-in-law were not members of our church, the church prepared a bereavement meal for all who attended the funeral.  I think it was God's presence for all of us through a meal.

Have you ever felt the presence of God through someone else – a messenger?

To be continued in the next post.