Go Back the Way You Came!

One of the things I liked best about working in a Kindergarten classroom was that -- at age five -- my students hadn't yet learned the art of tactfulness. And boy, the lack thereof kept you on your toes ("Mrs. Shoemaker, I think you must be 82!" When you're 41, you have work really hard to consider the source of statements like that).

Each year in the classroom, we would find a monarch caterpillar, put it in a clear mesh butterfly carrier, and as a class, we would watch and learn all about the caterpillar's metamorphosis into a butterfly. Once the butterfly came out of its chrysalis, we would take it outside and set it free. The activity was always very educational and a big hit at the same time.

I remember leaning down next to one little boy as we looked at the caterpillar when it was still in its caterpillar form. The boy was watching the creature, fascinated. "Look at how striped the butterfly is!" he exclaimed.

Y'all, I don't remember if I corrected him or not: Oh, buddy, he's not a butterfly yet; he's still a caterpillar. He still has to change. Part of me hopes I didn't correct him, and a part of me hopes I carried it one step further...

To this step: Yes, that caterpillar is a butterfly. He was created to be a butterfly, with every last piece of genetic instructional material inside of him that would make the change possible, and simply because we were watching him before he had come out of his chrysalis did not make him any less of a butterfly.

That's the story I thought of when I read Paul's words to the Romans in Romans 6:1-14. He talks about dying to sin and being alive in Christ. In Romans 6:11-14, he says: "In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace."

My footnotes below these verses says: "This is a call for the Christian to become in experience what he already is in position." ...

That kind of rocked my boat a little bit, you know? I don't think I've really thought about that before. I might be dead to sin... but what am I doing with my body to exhibit an outward sign of the internal conclusion? I might be dead to sin... I might even be alive in Christ... but how am I showing that outwardly?

This morning, I had a little bit of a frustrating conversation with the Lord (frustrating on my end; never on His. He is eternally patient). I read 1 Kings 18-19, where Elijah has just pulled off -- through the power of the Lord -- this amazing, awe-inspiring victory: He has proven to the Israelite nation that the Lord is God, that Ba'al isn't god. He's asked in public (which is always risky), in front of the Israelite people: "Oh Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command. Answer me, oh Lord, answer me, so these people will know that You, oh Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again" (1 Kings 18:36-37).

And God delivers with fire from heaven, burns up an absolutely drenched sacrifice, wood, stones, and soil, and the water in the trench. Now, I've built a few fires in my time, and I've even built fires out of wet wood occasionally. Let me tell you, the wet wood fires take work to maintain any kind of flame. I mean... you might get it burning for a little bit, you might even be able to keep it burning, but you're constantly fanning it, constantly trying to find dry sticks, constantly nursing it. There is no burning up of stones, or soil, or water. 

The Lord drops fire from heaven with power! As if that mind-blowing thing isn't enough, Elijah promises that the drought that has dried up Israel for the last three years will end. He tells the king: "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain" (1 Kings 18:41).

But the rain isn't there yet, nor even a sign of it, so technically, this falls under the category of "prophecy." I wonder if Elijah doubted his words. What if I just imagined it? What if I told the king something wrong? Because Elijah climbs up to the top of Mount Carmel, looks out across the crystal clear blue, blue cloudless sky... and prays. (Shoot, I'd be praying, too; prophets who don't have their words fulfilled in the Old Testament are dead prophets). "Elijah... bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees" (1 Kings 18:42).

As he prays, he tells his servant to "Go and look toward the sea" (1 Kings 18:43). Anything yet?

Nope, says the servant. Elijah sends him again. Still nope. Seven times the servant goes back to look. "The seventh time, the servant reports, 'A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea'" (1 Kings 18:44).

Elijah nods. He tells the servant to go tell Ahab, "Hey, storm's a-brewin'. You'd better get back to Jezreel."

The servant glances at the teensy-weensy cloud in the otherwise vast, blue expanse, squints against the sun, and shrugs. Sometimes, y'all... the tiniest mustard seeds grow the largest plant. The tiniest clouds bring the biggest rain. 

In 1 Kings 18:45-46, it says: "The sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. The power of the Lord came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel" (31 miles, for anyone wondering. That's more than a full marathon. And Elijah ran it ahead of two horses and a chariot). 

Okay, I just laid that out to set the scene for what happens next: Elijah -- after all of that! -- Elijah is discouraged. Jezebel, King Ahab's wife, got a little mad at Elijah. Well, she got a lot mad at Elijah. Because after the fire from heaven fell, Elijah had all the prophets of the false god Ba'al killed. And Jezebel sends Elijah a threat (which isn't an empty threat, by the way; she has the power to carry it out). She says, "By this time, tomorrow (24 hours, dude), you're going to be as dead as any of those prophets you just killed."

So Elijah runs away. He runs into the desert. He runs and runs and runs and runs. He curls up under a broom tree at last, and he prays: "I have had enough, Lord. Take my life; I am not better than my ancestors." And then... he falls asleep.

You know, the Lord could have thundered from heaven: "What are you complaining about, Elijah? I just worked some pretty amazing miracles because you asked Me to!" He could have struck Elijah dead. He could even have ignored Elijah, giving him up, since he was discouraged and obviously was not going to do what the Lord wanted him to do anymore.

Instead... He sends an angel with some food and drink. "Here you go, Elijah, get up and eat and drink." So Elijah does, and then falls asleep again. Again, the angel comes back with more food and drink. He shakes Elijah gently awake. He says: "Get up and eat, for the journey has been too much for you."

For the journey has been too much for you.

Y'all... God is not a distant Deity tossing out commands and thundering orders. He recognizes Elijah in his place of great need, He provides for Elijah's immediate needs (naptime and snacktime), and can you hear the love and care in the angel's voice? The journey has been too much for you.

Somewhere inside Elijah is the butterfly that the Lord has already planned for, and we catch glimpses of that butterfly through the prophet's obedience... and sometimes... all we see is the caterpillar. I'm tired, Lord. I can't do this anymore. 

But the Lord looks at the final product, and here's the cool part: He looks at the final product... even when nobody else can see it. AND THEN! And then, He calls that final product out into the open!

Because after that nap and snack and "The journey has been too much for you," God tells Elijah this: Go back the way you came. Go back to do the things I've asked you to do. Go back and be obedient. Go back to finish your work. Go back to "offer the parts of your body to God as instruments of righteousness." Go back to let your wings be seen. I've given you your chrysalis, I've broken you out of it. Now stretch those wings back out, and fly.

In my quiet time with the Lord this morning, I poured out all my discouragement and my frustration and my weariness to Him. I'm tired of Covid, I'm tired of routine, I'm tired of non-routine. I'm tired of masks. I'm tired of sickness. I'm tired of headlines. I'm tired of arguing and pretensions. I'm tired of compromise. I'm tired of complacency. I'm tired of empty shells. I'm tired of all of it.

And the Lord pointed me to the story of Elijah. I heard the compassion in His voice when He said: "The journey has been too much for you." And I felt the strength flowing from Him when He said, "Go back the way you came." "Offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness." 

So... rather than thinking about speaking out for Him, I will use my tongue and my lips to actually praise Him. Rather than thinking about getting on my knees to pray, I will plop a pillow next to my bed and actually worship Him from my knees. Rather than just telling someone I'm praying for them (and maybe remembering to toss a sentence skyward, 'Hey, Lord, be with them, please,'), I will open up my s-Word, pull out the Scripture, and do battle for that person as the Lord has shown me how to fight.

I'm going to spread my wings. I'm going back the way I came!