| What do you do when you go through a difficult time in life and find yourself in a place where you don't want to be? How did you get there? How about this, maybe it's the road you need to walk to get you back to where God wants you to be?
There's a story we recalled this morning about Elijah the Prophet in 1 Kings 19 where Jezabel had threatened to kill him. Elijah was seized with fear and ran for his life into the desert. He was in so much despair that he prayed to die. He said in verse 4, "I have had enough, Lord... Take my life." He grew very weary and fell asleep under a tree. An angel of the Lord appeared, touched Elijah, and woke him up. The angel had prepared something for him to eat and drink. He told him to "Get up and eat." Elijah ate a little, then laid back down. The angel came back a second time, touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." Finally, Elijah got up to eat and drink and was strengthened by the food. It strengthened him so much that he was able to travel forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. Elijah found his way up the mountain and spent the night in a cave.
Elijah positioned himself alone in a dark place. To him it was a safe place, hidden from his enemy. It was here God found him and where a powerful wind, a violent earthquake, and a blazing fire preceded the "gentle whisper," (a still small voice) of the Lord asking, "What are you doing here?" How about God's answer after hearing Elijah's reasons for running for his life? He said, "Go back the way you came..." The Lord gave him direction to go back to continue his work as a prophet. Jezabel never killed Elijah, in 2 Kings 2 we find that he was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind.
Elijah ran because he was afraid of being killed. He ran because he felt alone. Fear paralyzes you. Loneliness isolates you and keeps you from engaging in the assignments God has for you. Fear and isolation try to cut off your roots of faith and trust in Christ. God's "gentle whisper" redirected Elijah back from where he came. Sometimes the only way through a difficult time is by simply GOING THROUGH! Elijah had to face his fears and come out of isolation to get through this difficult time even if it meant putting his life on the line.
God will make sense of your senseless world when you remain firm in your faith in Christ and stay "rooted and built up in Him." The original Greek word for "rooted" in Colosians 2:7 is rhizoo. It means to render firm, to fix, establish, to cause a person or a thing to be thoroughly grounded.
Are you going through a difficult time in life and find yourself in a place where you don't want to be? No matter how afraid or alone you feel, stay rooted and built up in Him. Find safety, security, protection and peace in your situation by running to God not away from Him. Allow God's "gentle whisper" to strengthen and lead you as you simply GO THROUGH this time.
Have a great day! God bless you.
Louis & Elisa Quintana | 
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