As I enter into Holy Week, I am reminded of a story from 1 Kings 18:16-40. Elijah was an Old Testament prophet during the reign of Ahab, perhaps the most wicked ruler in Israel’s history. Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, in particular, led the Israelites to worship Baal and killed many of the Lord’s prophets so that Elijah was the only courageous prophet left. The people stayed so far from God that He sent a drought on the land for three years.
As God was about to lift the drought on the land from Israel, He told Elijah to present himself to Ahab and show the people of Israel once again that he was the only true God. So, Elijah gathered the people of Israel, including the 450 prophets of Baal, at Mount Carmel. Baal’s 450 prophets, after hours of shouting, dancing, and even violently beating themselves, were unable to call their god to bring down fire from heaven to consume the bull they had sacrificed. Elijah, however, said a prayer to God, who sent down fire to consume not only the altar and sacrificed bull, which Elijah had drenched with water, but also the water in the trench surrounding the altar. It was an awesome display of the power of God and the importance of serving Him alone.
Yet what happened next intrigues me the most. God had promised Elijah that if he presented himself to Ahab, He would lift the drought from the land. Elijah knew how desperately the land needed rain and how anxious the people were for food and drink. Elijah, on the top of Mount Carmel, knelt down with his face to the ground, prayed for rain and told his servant, “Go and look toward the sea” for a cloud or sign of rain. When the servant returned, he said he saw nothing. The servant went to look five more times but reported he saw nothing. Finally, on the seventh time, the servant returned and reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” This was all Elijah needed. He knew the rain was coming.
The cloud was as small as a man’s hand yet it told Elijah that there was hope for Israel after all, that God had not abandoned His people despite their years of unfaithfulness. Wrapped up in that little cloud, Elijah saw the promise of God’s steadfast love and His commitment to His people. He saw the Lord’s new mercies about to be poured out on Israel. In the cloud, Elijah found the hope he needed to keep going.
Holy Week encourages me to find those clouds as small as a man's hand. Holy Week encourages me to look and see that the rain is coming.
