What Are You Doing Here?

God asks Elijah a question: What Are You Doing Here?  Pushing past the centuries you and I ask, "Do we see ourselves in the story?"

From Faith to Fear

The characters—God, Elijah, Ahab, and Jezebel—draw us into this drama in I Kings 19:10-22. After a supernatural occurrence in chapter 18 where Elijah demonstrates heroic, victorious faith on Mount Carmel, he flees in fear to the desert and prays that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord…Take my life.” Gripped with fear, his faith melts, and he falls asleep. 

From God the Caterer

Within the narrative, we see the tender grace of God displayed as He supernaturally caters food and water right in the middle of the desert to meet the physical needs in Elijah’s life. (The ministry of food and sleep are real in the life of a child of God. Sometimes all we need is a nourishing meal and a restorative night’s sleep.)

Moving on…

From the Desert to the Cave

With more sleep and the second helping, so to speak, Elijah journeys forty days—forty days farther away from his enemies Jezebel and Ahab—and into a cave where he spends the night.

Then comes the question: What are you doing here, Elijah? God pursues His servant and poses the inquiry, because Elijah is not where God wants him to be.

Bring this forward to our own lives…

If honest, you and I have to admit that, yes, we do see ourselves in the story. I suggest that within each of us resides an Elijah:

Fear and fatigue contaminate our perspective of our situation.

Fear and fatigue drive us to places we should not go.

Fear and fatigue alter our perspective of God.

And yet, Elijah’s God is our God as well, and He meets us wherever we are. In a desert of discouragement and despair, or in a cave of fear, chaos and confusion, God joins us.

But the game changer is our response.

We are given the choice to stay where we are or to listen to the Voice of God and go back. When I acknowledge that I am not where God wants me to be—in a relationship, a pastime, a purchase, a perspective, a financial decision, or even a habit—I need to choose to go back to the center of God’s will, and under the protection of His Wings. 

Elijah had to answer God's direct question with intentional action. So do we.

Living With Eternal Intentionality™

Questions we find in Scripture arrest my attention. Over time, I invite you to journey with me through a series we will call “Classic Questions.” This blog post entry launched our first: What Are You Doing Here? (I Kings 19:10-22)

• When do you last remember being in a place where you did not need to be?
• How did you answer God's Classic Question: What are you doing here?
• What was the outcome?

What If I Told You Your Morning Matters?

The delicious sunshine drew me outdoors for an afternoon walk. Upon returning, as per habit, I retrieved the mail. A fascinating article in a magazine I received contained several insights, and I want to share the findings with you.

From a previous post, The Making of a Morning, you are already aware that I place high priority on mornings. Manage your morning and you will manage your day stays with me as I march from one decade to another, because I believe mornings are disproportionately important in giving meaning to one’s life.

Thus, after mulching over three of the seventeen highlights in this REAL SIMPLE April 2018 Remake your mornings, article by Jessica Migala, I determined to pass the information on to you. Please read and offer your feedback; I am interested to know what you think. (For me, just so you know, I am especially fixated with the third highlight.)

When You Open Your Eyes… Practice a Pep Talk.

“Your thoughts significantly impact your energy levels for the day,” says psychologist Elizabeth Lombardo, PhD, author of Better Than Perfect. If you could hold a microphone to you brain when you first wake up, what would it say? “It's too early.” “I'm so stressed.” Flip the script to something more positive: “Today, xyz is going to bring me joy.” If you need a reminder, stick a note to your nightstand—it’s that important.

When You Get Up… Open The Shades.

Natural light flips your brain’s switch from sleepy to awake, says Sabra Abbott, MD, PhD, a neurologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. “There is nothing better than sunlight,” she says. What’s more, a study published in the journal Sleep Health found that morning light exposure can help you snooze more soundly later that night, so you’ll likely feel better the next morning (and the next). If the sun’s rays are not an option because it’s still dark out, second best is turning on the lights to get as much bright light in the room as possible.

Stressful Emails

Even a five-minute phone check can suck you in, draining your mental energy, notes Julie Morgenstern (author of Time Management from the Inside Out). “Technology is constantly trying to pull you off course. If you start your day on your device, you’re starting it out in a reactive way,” she says, adding that emails can set off your internal alarms. Claim your morning as yours, and keep your device off for the first hour you’re awake.

Living with Eternal Intentionality™

Is there an idea here that God wants to use to bring a breakthrough to your morning routine? If so, please elaborate. 

Three Aha's to Conquer Overwhelmed

I crossed the threshold of my office, and the sensation punched me. The crummy feeling robbed me of the joy I generally experience when entering my sacred place.

On a normal day, my office is like a haven. My bookshelves, my floral chair, and my photos of family create an atmosphere of warmth and welcome. Typically, I relish the opportunity to step into my zone, close the door behind me, embrace the solitude, and launch into my work.

So on this day I had to ask, “What gives?” “What is going on here?” Then it hit me: I feel Overwhelmed (overcome, overpowered, swamped), by my daunting work agenda. There was far more to do than there was time to meet the deadlines. 

Can you relate to my feeling overwhelmed?

Life’s unwanted visitor named Overwhelmed knocks on many of our personal doors, and barges uninvited into numerous settings like the following:

Realizing there is more month than money (I feel overwhelmed.)

Pondering the heartache with a child’s behavior (I feel overwhelmed.)

Absorbing test results and the necessary journey of treatment (I feel overwhelmed.)

Glancing at the to-do list (I feel overwhelmed.)

Stepping on the scales (I feel overwhelmed.)

Listening to the evening news (I feel overwhelmed.)

Staring at the calendar (I feel overwhelmed.)

Hearing an aging parent’s voice articulate hopelessness (I feel overwhelmed.)

Mulling over a spouse’s upcoming travel commitments (I feel overwhelmed.)

Walking down the hall after the parent-teacher conference (I feel overwhelmed.)

Approaching the gym (I feel overwhelmed.)

Considering the untouched correspondence demanding attention (I feel overwhelmed.)

Rebounding from the phone call with _______ (you fill in the blank). (I feel overwhelmed.)

When Overwhelmed reigns, problems mushroom—distorting our situation and immobilizing us. Furthermore, Overwhelmed gobbles up joy, impedes progress, and dictates defeat while simultaneously demanding our surrender. Whether the challenge is temporary or long-term, Overwhelmed is no respecter of gender or generation, of season or circumstance.

After further thought, I am convinced that languishing in no man’s land of Overwhelmed comes when we leave God out of the equation, when we access the situation from our human perspective, and assume that a solution depends on our limited resources.  

So, here is my conclusion:

Overwhelmed is not from God. Overwhelmed is real—very real—but Overwhelmed is not from God. 

On the contrary, peace is from God, and peace is my rightful inheritance as His child. In facing my deadlines that day in my office, I needed to realign myself with His truth by remembering three aha's:

Aha #1. God has a plan for me: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).

Aha #2. God has resources for my specific situation: So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10).

Aha #3. God loves me and will never abandon me: My presence will go with you and I will give you rest (Exodus 33:14).

After all, and it is true, His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness (2 Peter 1:3).

Now that makes me Overwhelmed with relief and with exceedingly great joy!

Living With Eternal Intentionality™

Right now, what makes you feel overwhelmed?

Is God overwhelmed by your situation?

Based on a promise from the Word of God, how can you expect Him to show up?