Skip to main content

Defeat

             He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

             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.

            Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (I Kings 19:10-13)

 

            The whole passage I’d like to examine is too long to quote here, but  you probably know the story. Elijah prophesied three years of drought. Near the end of that time, Elijah challenges the king, the people, and 400 priests of Baal to a contest. Whoever wins, the people will acknowledge as God.

                Baal’s priest put forth a good effort and put on a good show. Then Elijah ups the ante – having folks dig a trench around the altar and drench the sacrifice. One simple prayer and God’s fire consumes everything. Elijah tells the king to hurry home to avoid the storm, and outraces the king back to town.

            When Jezebel learned what happened, she threatens Elijah, who tucks tail and runs to Mt Horeb, where God asks him what he’s doing there. That brings us to the passage quoted above. When my pastor taught from it on Sunday, a phrase came to mind that he didn’t use: “Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.”

            Generally, we hear it the other way around. There’s no way the hero can win but somehow, he does. But in this story, there seems no way that Elijah can lose – until someone threatens him. And how often am I the same way? It doesn’t even take a queen threatening my life. I approved a novel for print and made some decorations for the trailer. Then I made the mistake of taking a picture of the decorations. They’re far from perfect. They don’t look like an artist made them. It didn’t take someone else failing to appreciate my genius to snatch failure from victory. It took me. By writing about it, I hope I can entrench the idea in my mind so the next time I sabotage myself, I’ll have the phrase to fall back on and maybe give myself the little bit of backbone needed to not run away.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more