By Shirley Mitchell
“As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you.”
1 Kings 18:10
Many of you know that I am now studying and writing about Elijah. I have not felt led to share much with you so that it would be fresh to you when you first see it. However, there are a few things that God put on my heart to share with you. Let’s call it a preview of the Bible study.
The story of Elijah begins with him declaring to King Ahab, the king of Israel, that there will be no dew or rain in the next few years except at his word. Then the LORD tells Elijah to leave and to go to a place of safety that He has prepared for Elijah. In the third year of the drought, the LORD told Elijah to present himself to Ahab. Elijah finds Obadiah first while they were searching for water and grass for their animals so they could keep them alive. In today’s verse, we learn from the prophet Obadiah that King Ahab had sent men to every nation and kingdom searching for Elijah. Ahab made them take an oath that Elijah was not there. He had scoured the known countries of the earth. He was empty-handed. Elijah was out of his reach.
I find it interesting that he appeared before Ahab while he was searching for water and grass. Ahab was far away from the palace of Jezebel. She had killed the prophets of the Lord. Since Jezebel was so evil, maybe she would have tried to put Elijah to death upon the sight of him without any conversation. Since God knew it was not time for His anointed prophet to die, He would have to raise His impenetrable force field or some other divine protection. Instead, God chose to present him before King Ahab.
God showed me something so wonderful about this story. As I was flying back from Colorado to the Atlanta airport for a business trip, I was looking out my window. The clouds were beautiful on this day. A sea of white, soft clouds barred me from seeing the earth. It was hard to believe that we could pass right through them. I asked God to tell me something. Normally, I don’t sit in the window seat but rather in the aisle seat. So I asked for Him to speak to me something about Himself as I looked at the beauty of His creation. There must be something He wanted to say to me since He planted me in this seat.
He said, “Ahab’s search is nothing like My search. My search is all-inclusive.” He spoke to my heart so fast that I understood what He meant almost instantly. While I was still in the spirit, I wrote more. Our God can search in every kingdom and nation on earth. God sees from every view point and in any direction. He sees from up in the sky, looking down to earth. He sees across the earth. He can scour every house, every cave, and every tent. He spots everything on earth, under the earth, and at the bottom of the sea. He can look above the earth, above the clouds, in the clouds, and into space.
I thought of Psalm 139:1-3a, 7-8 which says, “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down…Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”
God is everywhere! There is nowhere that anyone can hide from God. His search is nothing like the search of man. He has the ability to search and scour all of the earth. He never loses sight of you and me. You and I can’t flee from God, neither can our loved ones. There is no bar room that He does not see. There is no drug house that He can’t see. There is no jail that He does not see. There is no cesspool of sin that our God is not right there. We can’t hide from God. Hallelujah to God! No one is out of His reach! Does this encourage you for where you were, where you are, or where your loved ones are today? We are never out of His sight!
Pray with me: Oh, Lord, we praise You! Some of us have needed Your eye upon us to guide us through the depths of sin. Some of us have needed Your hand upon us as we have walked through the valleys of despair. Some of us have tried to hide from You and not face You. All of us have never been out of Your sight and always within Your reach. Thank You for Your all-seeing eyes. Thank You for Your all-knowing ways and knowing when the right time was to speak to us and to have an encounter with You. We pray for the ones in the cesspools of sin that they will be sickened by their lifestyle of sin. We pray that they can recognize that there is so much living that they are missing. A person is never more alive than he or she is in You. May they know what life on the edge is really about…it’s about You! It’s in the Name above all names, in Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, we pray. Amen.
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