1 Kings 19 - The Sloppy Wet Kiss

     Elijah was a prophet in the midst of a very disparate Israel. He felt like he was the only one who wanted to heed God's will. All the kings were doing whatever they wanted and were not listening to God or Elijah. Prophets were supposed to have an ear to God's plans, and the kings were supposed to listen to them, but that's exactly how it was going down, and Elijah was getting frustrated.

     So one time, Elijah defeats the prophets of Baal in a mighty show-down of whose God is greater (Elijah wins of course) and perhaps gets a little carried away and proceeds to kill all of the prophets of Baal with a sword.

     Jezebel, the bad Baal-worshiper that killed a bunch of prophets of the Lord, isn't too happy with Elijah's expression of triumph, so she has him hunted and has a message sent to him basically saying, "I will make you like one of your gods by tomorrow." Talk about evil antagonists...

     So here we find Elijah super depressed because all he was doing was trying to show people how great and awesome and mighty God is, and now this evil queen wants him dead. Like super dead. So Elijah says to God, "It is enough; O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers." Poor Elijah. But little does he know what else God has in store for him.

     After begging God to take his life, Elijah treks for about 40 days in wilderness before he comes to Horeb ("the mount of God"). Ooooooooooh, talk about foreshadowing. Elijah finds this cave to hide in the mountain, and God is like, "Yo, Elijah what's up, how ya doing?" And Elijah replies, "God why have you forsaken me!? Why does everyone hate me and want me dead?! I'm no better than my forefathers!" Basically just lots of complaining, which I think is kind of understandable given his circumstances. So God was like, "I know just what to do," beause He's super cool like that, and told Elijah to go stand on the mount before the Lord. And Elijah did just that to listen for God.

     "A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper." Elijah heard the whisper and immediately realized it was the Lord. He hid his face in awe of the majesty he felt. He knew that heaven had just met earth with a sloppy wet kiss.

     Elijah may have felt alone because none of the Israelites followed God as he did, but God reached out to him in the midst of a storm and comforted Elijah. And after that, everything was all rainbows and butterflies for Elijah, and he never experienced doubt or fear again. (Lol no. Not exactly.)

Lessons we can learn:

-God is awesome and knows exactly what we need when we need it

-When we doubt and fear, God is always right there beside us in the storms

-When your situation seems desolate, God can make it new

Note: This story is taken from 1 Kings 18-19 and is a very loose interpretation of what message I think the Bible may be trying to convey.