The prophet Elijah received one of the most exciting commands in the Old Testament.  The Lord told him, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by” (1 Kings 19:11).  What would you do if you received a command like that?  Would you go?  I know I would!

What if you had a hot date scheduled with the man of your dreams at the same time, and suddenly you had the choice to either go out with a dreamy man or witness one of God’s very rare physical cameos in this world. I’m convinced that every single one of us would sprint to the side of that mountain and leave Mr. Wonderful behind for a chance to see our Lord.  No person is worth missing out on an opportunity like that.

The point here is not to say that a Friday night out on the town with a great guy is wrong compared to a night at home with your Bible.  That’s not it at all.  The point is simply to stress the importance of God’s presence in our lives.  The absence of God is weightier than any void this temporal world can fulfill.

Elijah followed God’s command and went to the mountains to wait for God to appear.  He waited through a violent wind that blew dirt in his eyes and shattered rocks into pieces.  But the Lord was not in the wind.  He waited as the earth quaked fiercely beneath him, knocking him off his feet and onto his knees.  But the Lord was not in the earthquake.  Then came a fire, heating up the air like a furnace and making his eyes water from all the smoke.  But again, the Lord was not in the fire.

At last, after waiting through the mercurial winds, the unsteady earth, and the blazing fire, Elijah heard a gentle whisper.  You guessed it; it was the whisper of the Lord.

The Lord promises us that if we go to the mountains, he will appear.  The mountains are his dwelling place and it is there that he reveals himself to us. “Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell” (Psalm 43:3).

Elijah had to muddle through trying circumstances before God appeared to him on that mountain.  Wind, fire, earthquakes.  Such conditions would send most of us running, thinking that the unfavorable circumstances were proof of God’s absence rather than his imminent arrival.   But God always shows up when he says he’s going to.

Jephthah’s daughter had to face trying circumstances as well before she made it to the presence of the Lord.  The winds blew as the shock of her father’s vow hit her like a puff of icy, numbing air. But she set her mind on the mountains and determined in her heart to lay that shock at her Father’s feet.  The earth shook beneath her as the weight of the news sunk in and her legs grew weak and unsteady.  But she walked on wobbly legs anyway, step by shaky step, to meet her Lord at the mountains.  And finally, as the heat crept up her face like the mercury in a thermometer from the cauldron of emotions brewing inside of her, she overcame the rising temperatures and sought the refreshing breeze of her Lord’s gentle whisper.

We must do the same.  We must run to the mountains confident that the Lord will meet us there just as he promises.

Q: Where do you most often feel the presence of the Lord?