"Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper . . .

(KJV – "a still, small voice"; Amplified Bible – "A sound of gentle stillness"; NRSV – "a sound of sheer silence")

When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave."

         Today we come to the account of Elijah listening to God. This is the restoration of his soul, a soul that has been through the dark night. After the great victory of God over the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel, and the zeal of Elijah expressed in the rout of those prophets, there comes a letdown and a loss of faith. Elijah runs for his life. The victory does not lead him to assurance, confidence or a closer walk with God. Rather he ceases to act like a prophet. He runs. He hides in a cave. He becomes weak, faithless, weary and fearful.

         Now Jezebel asserts her authority. Ahab tells her what happened on Mt. Carmel, and she sends a messenger to Elijah to threaten his life. She does not arrest him, but she tries to frighten him, so that he will leave her country.

         My first recollections of the Jezebel story come from a visit of a children's evangelist to our church. I was quite impressed with him because he was able to ride a straight-backed chair across the platform as if it were a horse. This was pre-TV, but it made a lasting impression on me. He told the story of Jezebel in lurid detail and I for one was thoroughly terrified of this intimidating woman.

         This evangelist also carried with him a full-sized dummy of the devil, and if you memorized the most verses or brought the most neighbor kids, you got to come up and punch the devil. I never got to go up. After the service, my father went to ask him a question about how he made one of his props. And the man said, "Do the boys want to punch the devil?" I was quite disappointed to hear my father decline the offer. Anyway, I first learned abut Jezebel from an itinerant evangelist.

         So Elijah flees Jezebel and her death threat. August Konkel writes, "Elijah is surprisingly weak. He is afraid and runs for his life. He feels isolated. He blames the people and forgets their confession of faith at Mt. Carmel. The despair of Elijah demonstrates the frailty of human strength. A prophet is one who follows God's word. Here Elijah follows a word of fear."

         It strikes me that Elijah now acts like there is no God to defend him. It is not that he believes in Baal. He is empty of any faith. His focus is on himself. He feels he has failed. He sees the future of his life in relation to Jezebel, rather than in relation to God.

         So he flees about 130 miles to the south, to Beersheba, on the southern boundary of Judah. From there he goes even further to Sinai, to the mountain called Horeb by those in the Northern Kingdom. This is where Moses received the Ten Commandments. There, in the desert, he hides in a cave.

         There the Lord asks him a question, "What are you doing here?"

         What was he doing there?

         He was hiding in a cave.

         He was grieving the loss of God in his life. His answer is a lament, a song of grief.

         He was wondering how he would be able to live without the tradition of his ancestors, without the community of faithful Israel.

         He was feeling failure, loneliness and weariness.

         He was sleeping.

         He was dying.

         It was 31 years ago when I was ordained into Christian ministry. John Wiens was the preacher that night. I remember that he spoke about "The dark night of the soul." He seemed to indicate that we would all experience it at some point in our vocation. Now "through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come." There have been some dark nights along the way for my soul.

For many years I thought the dark night of the soul must be another name for depression. They may indeed overlap. But depression is a condition that has to do with brain chemistry. A doctor can diagnose it and treat it. Depression is experienced in our spiritual life as a dark cloud over the soul, or perhaps a thick fog surrounding the soul. The sun shines, but it is blocked, you cannot see it or feel it. In the same way, to someone with depression, God is there, but they cannot feel his presence. It is hard or even impossible to pray or to study the Bible. But you can know that there is an objective reality of God. He is present even when you cannot feel him. When the fog lifts the awareness of God's presence returns.

         In contrast, during the dark night of the soul you come to the conclusion that there is no God, that you are truly alone. There is in the dark night the feelings that Elijah carried: fear, failure, doubt. In the dark night you identify with the man who said to Jesus, "I believe, help my unbelief." The dark night of the soul is when you carry unbelief in your heart for a time. The soul is very much awake. There is no fog or cloud. But it is night. You continue to pray, but you doubt anyone is listening. In the dark night, you search for God, you cry out to God.

         I suspect the experience of the dark night of the soul is quite normal for Christians, but I do not know that for sure, because we never talk about it. And because we don't talk about it, we lose the opportunity to walk with our brother or sister through the night and then experience the daybreak together.

         This is where we meet Elijah. He is acting as if there is no God to defend him. He is running in fear from Jezebel. He is hiding in a cave. He needs an experience of God, the Living God. He needs to feel the sunrise in his soul.

         So God brings to him three experiences: wind, earthquake and fire. These remind us of the experience of Moses and the people of Israel in the wilderness. At Sinai God was in the cloud and the fire. But for Elijah, God is not where you would expect him to be.

When we experience the dark night, we often go to the most likely places to find God. We go to church or perhaps to many churches. We pray. We may read a few books. Some may take a class at a theological seminary, or even get a degree. Surely God will be there! We may go for a walk in the woods. We may climb a mountain. We go to the places we think God is most likely to be found. He is not always where we expect him to be.

         So Elijah experiences a violent wind, but God is not there.

         He experiences an earthquake, but God is not there.

         He experiences fire. But God is not there.

         Then comes "the sound of sheer silence." Elijah wraps himself and stands in the presence of God. He protects himself from seeing the splendor of God and perishing. He stands in God's presence and his soul is restored. The dark night is over. He believes. He begins to act like a prophet again.

         Why in the silence and not in the wind or fire or earthquake? Is the silence more tuned to faith, to the heart? Is it faith that draws us through those times when the soul goes dark, and we cannot see or hear? If we allow ourselves the freedom to simply believe, will we come to a place where the presence of God will shine upon us?

         Paul writes in Galatians, "Consider Abraham: He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Understand then, that those who believe are children of God."

         If we stand in simple faith, will the presence of God pass by, and bring the light to our dark souls?

         We began today with an ancient Irish hymn, and sang it as if we were Elijah at the mouth of the cave when God passed by in the silence. 

Be thou my vision, O lord of my heart,

naught be all else to me, save that thou art;

thou my best thought, by day or by night,

waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

 

Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word,

I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;

Thou my great Father, thy child shall I be,

Thou in me dwelling and I one with thee.

          Amen.