No Time For Turtles

“And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?” (1Ki 19:13 AV)

This is the second time the LORD asked this of Elijah.  The first was before all the natural events ending in the still small voice.  This is after the still small voice.  The question remained.  Regardless of God’s manifestation of Himself to the prophet, the prophet didn’t belong hiding in a cave.  There was still work to do.  The Holy Spirit has a way of revealing God’s more blunt side.  Probably because of how I was raised.  If it is Elijah feeling sorry for himself or Job questioning God’s wisdom, the Holy Spirit shows me how the LORD will not allow us to be a turtle!  He will not allow us to cower or give up when there is no need to do the same.

My Mom just passed away.  One of the memories I have of her was her unflappable demeanor in handling all sorts of crisis.  She had to.  She had eight boys.  The only time I ever saw her loose it was when her new born son turned all different shades of blue.  The ambulance was called and she was beside herself.  When one tallies up all the catastrophic injuries we boys suffered, her experiences were far more and away dramatic than the average Mom.  One thing she always said, no matter the severity of the situation: “What did you do now!”  From broken bones to a head split wide open, it was always the same. “What did you do now?  Let’s get in the car and go to the hospital.”  There was no time for sitting idle and crying about it.  There was something that had to be done.  The time for sorrowing was after the injury was triaged.

If the truth be known, Monday morning finds the resignation of many a man of God.  We battle the forces of evil with every fiber of our being, only to find minimal gains.  The world is not our greatest challenge.  The devil can only be in one place at a time.  Our flesh is the greatest adversary but God’s people can sometimes come in a close second.  Not because they are any worse than our other challenges.  But we are around God’s people much of the time.  It was so with Elijah.  He had battled the rebellious of God’s people with little or no change.  That gets old really fast.  But that is too bad!  The question above is still valid!  Why are you here?  What are you doing?  We expect God to give us some slack.  But He does not.  Why are you here?  You don’t belong here!  Why are you here?