This is the story of Elijah's confrontation with the Israel about who is God: “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long will you go limping between two opinions? if Jehovah is God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.” They were stuck between two options, trying to follow Baal but not yet ready to admit they had turned away from the God of their fathers, the God of Israel, the one true God Jehovah. Baal seemed like a nice way to get what they wanted. Baal promised them that if they held up their end of the bargain with sacrifices and rituals he would give them what they wanted: prosperity, power. But he had been failing: 3 and a half years without rain. So they were stuck. They kept trying to do more, to give Baal more, but nothing came of it.

In the following verses, a miniature version of the past years is played out as Baal's priests try to draw down fire from heaven. We see the hopelessness of serving a god who tells us to perform for him but is powerless to give us what we need. Then Elijah steps up and does something maybe more ridiculous than Baal's priests, who had just “cut themselves ... till the blood gushed out upon them”: he had water dumped all over the sacrifice. It seems wasteful in a time of extreme drought, and I wondered as I listened to the passage what it would have been like to see all that water wasted... for what? It was so God could show his power to not just burn up a dry sacrifice but to consume a soaking wet sacrifice (and all the water). This wasn't any ordinary fire. This burned everything in it's path. Nothing was spared, not even the altar.

I saw so clearly my need for renewal and rest and, in contrast with Elijah, how I contend against God for it. I need to always be doing, trying harder to justify my existence and somehow find peace. Even with God I'm constantly asking myself “What do I need to do for God” or “I failed God today because I didn't read the Bible or pray or... does he still love me”. One of the most consistent questions in my Christian walk is “what do I need to do?” Confronting that head on is Isaiah 30:15, one of the most comforting/convicting passages in the Bible for me: “For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not.”

God calls all of us to rest in him. To trust in him with quiet confidence that he has done everything for us. That we don't need to justify our existences because God has justified us. That we don't need to be strong because God is strong. And I refuse to do this so often. Elijah contends for renewal in quiet confidence in God. Hopefully the central points of the passage can rest in our hearts this week: the ridiculousness of trying to serve any God but Jehovah, and the quiet confidence we can have in God that he is with us and everything we need. 

 ~Philip Noell