Cold. So very cold. Sometimes coldness can be experienced by all five senses! You feel it as your fingers turn numb, you see it in the brittle, hanging icicles, you hear it in the crunch under your boots, you smell it in the crystals magically floating in the air and yes … accompanied by a cup of hot chocolate, you taste it!
The night was so very cold … and dark. We left the warmth of the church and piled into our old farm pickup. Our tall son, Jeremy, was crowded into the seat next to me along with one of our daughters. With my keyboard across their laps, out onto the road we rolled! We laughed and reviewed the events of evening, with chattering teeth and our breath seen in the light of the street lights.
And then we heard something. A sputter. We lurched. Another sputter. Then silence. Awful silence.
With a hard yank on the steering wheel I was able to pull the pickup onto the shoulder. There was no need for a mechanic. We all knew the problem. We were out of gas. After several attempts to start ‘er up, she let us know clearly that she was on “E”.
Knowing that there was a gas station several miles down the road and that it was far too frigid outside to hike there, I suggested that we pray. After all, God has no problem starting a truck. So with our breath sending smoke signals to heaven, we prayed, asking God to start the truck and to get us to the gas station.
I turned the key. The old truck sputtered, almost sounding like it was against her will. Then up she started! Off we rolled down the road, rejoicing in answered prayer and our amazing God. “Thank You, Lord.” A few miles down the road, we heard a sputter, we lurched, another sputter … and then silence. Awful silence.
Yanking the wheel again, we inched out way onto the shoulder. After a brief discussion as to how God answered our prayer, we decided to pray again. “Ok, we’re back, Lord. Could you please start the truck again?”
As I turned the key, with a truck load of doubt in my heart, she sputtered and came to life! And we were off … shivering and praising as we went. God had answered our prayers twice and we were grateful. Isn’t He amazing? He knows our needs and just comes to the rescue. Why do we doubt Him? He knows we need gas. He is all-powerful. He can do … sputter … lurch … silence. Awful silence.
Rolling slowly onto the shoulder, even with a chilled thought process, I really was starting to have a problem with this God of mine. I mean … if He had the power to start a truck without gas, then He certainly had the power to keep it going. We needed to get home. We were cold. We were hungry.
“Dear, Lord. Just one more time, please. We’re almost there. Could ya, would ya?” I turned the key … and she reluctantly came to life. “Thanks, again, Lord.” With glances at each other and looks of “I don’t know what’s going on here”, we ventured out onto the road again. After a very few uncertain minutes, we saw the lights of the gas station in the distance. “Please, please, please, Lord..”
Pulling up next to the gas pump, I put it into “Park” and shut the tired engine off. The gas station attendant came out of the building, and I told him about our trip from the church. After inspecting the gas lines, he told us that there was absolutely no way that the truck should have still been running, adding that there was no gas at all in the lines. Thanks, Lord.
But hold on …
Let’s be honest. Have you ever been in the driver’s seat of your life, asking the Lord to give you all that you need for the next ten miles, and all He seems to give you is what you need to get through the next ten minutes? Ever needed ten miles worth of grace … direction … money … endurance … protection … grit … strength … healing … clarity … understanding? You’ve asked. And waited. And then you realized that He gave you what you needed for just the next few minutes … or hours.
Oh, how our loving Heavenly Father loves us to be dependent on Him! He loves for us to feel our need of Him … to be continually coming into His Presence in prayer … and then giving Him the honor and glory for what He’s done. He says to you and I, “Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you will honor Me.” Psalm 50:15
Go, grab your water bottle, and walk with me … You’re going to be parched. We’ll be heading to Samaria, and there has been a famine there for years. Come on! Pick up the pace a bit. We’ve got a few thousand years to travel.
Over there … see that crowd slowly dispersing? They just watched a show like never has been seen before or since. Elijah and some prophets of Baal had a showdown … with the prophets of Baal calling out to their god to burn up the bull on the altar, and Elijah calling on the One true God to send down fire to burn up the bull. After hours of silence and no response from Baal, Elijah prayed. God in Heaven sent down a mind-blowing fire, that had the people falling on their faces before Him. Now Elijah knew that God would send them rain. He told the King of Israel, Ahab, to go and eat and drink! Off he went.
Now look! Over there in the distance…. See the man climbing slowly up the mountain? That’s Elijah. His heart is heavy, knowing the desperate need for rain. The people have been walking their animals for miles, trying to find just any small patch of grass. That’s his servant standing off to the side. Oh, look … Elijah’s bowing down to the ground.
Shhhh. Listen closely. Elijah is telling his servant to go and look toward the sea. He’s confident in the God who just displayed His power to the people. The servant walks to the sea and reports back that there’s no sign of rain. Elijah told him to go back and check again. Nothing. Go and check again. Zip. Not a drop. Go again, servant. Blue sky. Go back and really look this time. Notta. Go again. Gorgeous sky, as far as the eye could see. Elijah doesn’t give up. Go … look toward the sea. Servant slowly walks back again. At least he’s getting his steps in.
Elijah can see him running towards him this time! He can hardly get the words out… “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”
Oh, Elijah knew his God would come through! He knew that His answers could be “more than he asked or imagined”. He told the servant to go tell Ahab to hitch his wagon and to go down before the rain stopped him. The sky grew black with clouds and heavy rains poured down around them.
Could God have sent the rain the first time that Elijah asked? Yes. He could have sent it before Elijah asked. But Elijah stayed in the presence of God, dependent on Him.
Then he saw a cloud the size of a man’s hand.
What about your situation? Have you been watching the sea for a sign that God is moving, and you’re just seeing a cloudless sky? Keep asking … keep watching … keep staying … keep praying. God is at work in ways that you can’t. And one day … you’ll start to see things moving … and the outcome will be in the shape of His hand.
Then … give Him the honor that’s due Him.
“Dear God … On the days that I don’t see you moving, remind my heart that You are at work in ways that I cannot. Thank You that You invite me and draw me into Your Presence … and that You love me to be dependent on You. Lord … sometimes I don’t understand why You seem to be silent. Calm my anxious mind. Keep my eyes on You, watching for answers that are in the shape of Your hand. … In Your Most Worthy Name…”