Pity Party

           The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

          Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. (I Kings 19:11-13)

 

If I were in Erie, I could pull out a commentary or two and investigate what the scholars say about this passage. As it is, I’m facing questions. I’ve read the passage many times. I think I’ve tended to either skim the passage, to treat it as different events, or to ignore the question and answer. What in the world do the powerful wind, the earthquake, the fire, and the gentle whisper have to do with Elijah’s reason for being there?

One possible connection is with the fact that, according to Elijah, all of Israel wanted to kill him. God brings three big, nasty, terrifying disasters to the mountain: what might have been a tornado, an earthquake, and a fire. He doesn’t allow Elijah to be harmed. If God can protect Elijah from these natural disasters, isn’t it likely that He’ll also be able to protect Elijah from Jezebel?

But the Scripture also points out that “the Lord was not in” the whirlwind, the earthquake, or the fire. God wasn’t using them against Elijah. He wasn’t coming as a God of judgment, demanding that Elijah straighten up and show a little faith, “…or else.” And when He is “in” the thing that comes, it’s a gentle whisper. There’s no basso profundo Wizard of Oz style “God voice” involved. The displays of power aren’t punishment. In fact, one might say that they are specifically designed to show that God is not punishing him.

One of the tidbits I learned about dealing with children who are acting out is to ask, “What are you doing?” (Yesterday’s topic, but I just remembered the tip.) Supposedly, it forces the child to evaluate his/her behavior without giving him/her a chance to justify it.

So now we turn to our pity parties, and other people’s pity parties. Of course, God can use the same virus in one person’s life as a punishment, in another as a correction, in a third as an illustration of protection, and in several other people’s life as several other things. Nothing I’m going to say is a one-size-fits-all statement and it’s not wise to leap to any conclusions about His purpose for a situation. That’s not the same as considering his relationship to the situation. He’s God. He’s in charge. Fighting against Him is foolish at best. The thing(s) we think are so big and horrible are insignificant. They’re no threat to Him, and if we are His, they’re really no threat to us (even if they kill us!) This has nothing to do with our feelings. In fact, we should subordinate our feelings to it. This is one that I need to apply to my own life. So often when I launch into a pity party, I am fully aware that there is nothing wrong, and even more, that there’s nothing wrong that God can’t handle.

The third step is to consider one’s relationship with God.  Is there some known sin separating the partier from God? Is the partier under some specific conviction? What do the circumstances really say about what God is doing in their life? For example, we’re in a pandemic. Does the person have the disease? In short, is there actual evidence that God is in the partier’s circumstances? There’s nothing wrong with asking God to reveal to the partier if God is in the circumstances and why.

And the fourth step is to turn off the party music and get busy doing what God shows or tells you to do, which is precisely what I need to do, specifically by practicing this process whenever I realize I’m having a pity party.