A Detour Here. A Detour There.

I grew up by the side of some rolling hills overlooking the city. And it was a regular haunt of ours to go up  there and play on its forested slopes. On many occasions I would go and sip water from a little spring that seeped up out of the ground before it flowed its way to join up with other streams and rivers further down the hillside. The problem was that there were no landmarks around the location of this spring. You kind of had to know where the location was before you could go and search for it. But, oh, it was so refreshing when we were playing around the hilltop on a warm and thirsty day.

It was a great place to sit and look around. There were ancient burial grounds, ancient caves and ancient throne sites for crowning ancient kings all nearby. The area where we were was steeped in the ancient history of the ancient Isle of Erin, and the ancient lands and kingdoms of Ulidhia and Dalriadha.

We could see the sites where the fort of an ancient king called McArt was situated. We could look out over the lands where the old king Conn O’Neill ruled. We could look to the north and see the ancient hillside of Mount Slemish where Saint Patrick, who became the patron saint of Ireland, tended to his sheep when he was a young boy.

And this hidden spring got me to thinking about Elijah in the Old Testament. We know virtually nothing about the birth and early life of Elijah only to say that he emerged at some point during the reign of King Ahab. Ahab was one of the evil kings of Israel and because of this God decided to bring a drought on the land.

After Elijah delivered God’s prophecy to Ahab he became angered and wanted to kill Elijah. But God told Elijah to get out of the land and go and hide in  one of the valleys beside Jordan, near a little brook called Cherith.

1st Kings Ch17:2 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, (3)"Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by a brook called Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.(4)And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there."

We are not told how long Elijah spent beside this brook but when thinking of the little stream that we sat beside on the top of those hills I can well relate to how refreshing the water was as it trickled out of the ground.

And now I sit and think of Elijah while he was in his solitary exile beside this brook called Cherith. Did he long for the days of King Saul, David and Solomon over 75 years before? Did he lament over the stories of the older Prophet Samuel?

But thankfully, Elijah’s solitude was not to last for ever. He, like us, can only dwell in the realm of memories for so long. He was soon told to make his way to a foreign land of Zarepath, in Sidon. This was a difficllt journey. And it was made all the more difficult as King Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, had put a price in Elijah’s head.

1st Kings Ch17 (8)Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, (9) "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."

God had instructed Elijah to go to the land of Sidon and look out for a widow woman. When he found her he asked her to make him a meal. But unknown to Elijah, this was to be the widow woman’s last meal. She had no more food. But God worked through Elijah to make sure that the widow woman and her family would never go hungry again.

1st Kings Ch17 (14) For thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.' (15) So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days.(16) The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah.

Our life can be looked of as similar to Elijah’s in many ways. We go through our troubles and our difficulties. And sometimes these difficulties are so severe that the only place we can endure them is when we are alone with our own thoughts, dreams and fears. But the solitude and difficulties don't last for ever. Pretty soon God will provide us with with a new detour which will lead us to the spiritual bread and oil.

Jesus will come to meet with us again. Afterall, He is the bread of life – John Ch 6 v35.

And He will pour out the oil of His blessings. Psalm Ch45 (7) and Hebrews Ch1 (9) tells us…

Hebrews Ch1 (9) You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your friends.

But for now, while we dwell in these solitary places we would do well to always remember the verse from Ecclesiastes…

Ecclesiastes Ch3 (11) He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts,

Something beautiful, something good.
All my confusion He understood.
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife.
But he made something beautiful of my life.

©Bill Gaither

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