Day 178

1 Kings 18:16-19:21, Acts 17:22-18:8, Psalms 78:17-31

There is so much in the passages today that it is hard to decide what to concentrate on. Yesterday was about the God of provision and today seems to be about the God of the supernatural.

Elijah’s ministry has within it a couple of great moments and it will take us through the next couple of days. First of all we have this trick with the fire, challenging the prophets of Baal to call on their God, but of course there is no response because there is no one to listen to them. I love the point where he mocks them, I can almost hear the sarcasm in his voice. One of those moments that you would have liked to be at. Then right at the end there is that point when the Spirit of Good fills him and he runs like the clappers, faster than a horse and chariot! Wouldn’t have minded seeing that either.

Sandwiched between these two is not the God of provision, nor the God of the supernatural, but the God of the intimate. We have just seen God come down in a very impressive ball of fire and yet now God is not in the fire. Nor is he in the wind or the earthquake. Now we know that God is pretty impressive, he can deal with the chaos before creation and we have seen him do so much more, so we would expect him to come to Elijah in some rather impressive way. But he doesn’t! Have you ever noticed that to hear a whisper the person has to be very close. They almost have to be touching your shoulder with their mouth inches away from your ear. For God to speak in a whisper then He has to be pretty close, this is no distant God.

Paul finding the altar to “to an unknown god” ties so closely to Elijah and the prayers to the non-existent God of Baal. But of course the God which Paul preaches, the God incarnate in Christ, is the very personal God who is close and intimate. Call upon that God today.