Elijah

Image courtesy of the Providence Lithograph Company [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons


Happy New Year! And welcome to another blogging series. English Lutheran is participating in the ELCA Book of Faith initiative through a four week preaching series on prophets. Here is the line-up:

January 22  Elijah (1 Kings 17 to 2 Kings 2)

January 29 Amos (Amos 1-9)

February 5 Hosea (Hosea 1-14)

February 12 Jonah (Jonah 1-4)

We will be blogging along with this series, starting this week with Elijah.

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to really dig into my Bible more. I joined friends on a facebook group called Read Through the Bible 2012. Each day, I am sent assigned readings and invited to participate in discussion. The group holds me accountable, and I am reading sections of the Bible that I'm not sure I've ever read before (Leviticus, anyone?). A side benefit that I didn't anticipate is that I am usually thinking about Bible stories that don't correspond to the lectionary readings, which changes how I listen to a sermon and reflect on worship through the week.

My lightbulb moment with Elijah was how often Biblical heroes seem to be in non-exciting places when God asks them to do something that seems impossible, they protest, God cares for and equips them, and then, with God's help, it all works out.

Moses, for example, was tending sheep when God called him to return to Egypt to save the Israelites (see Exodus 3).  He protests about being slow of speech, obeys God, and things miraculous things happen with God's help--ranging from a staff-snake to plagues to a stubborn Pharaoh relenting to Moses' request. Joseph spent time in a well and in prison before serving in a place of honor and power (Genesis 37).  Elijah, our focus for the week, was under a tree ready to die and 40 days later in a cave when God gave him a new mission (1 Kings 19). In all of these instances, God gave orders, but also lovingly equipped His chosen to serve.

As we continue through the week and a new year, I would invite you to consider your faith journey. Where is God? What is God equipping, and asking, you to do?

Prayers and blessings for your journey,
Rachel