Wow, what a new Elijah we see here - not the prophet of great movements, of lofty thoughts or extensive prophesying, but rather an Elijah of simplicity and littleness. He is not moved by the majesty of the strong and heavy winds, the destructive capability of the earthquake, or the captivating flames of the fire. No. For Elijah, God appears as a tiny little voice, a tiny little question like a mosquito buzzing near his ear: "Elijah, why are you here?"
I mean, I would have been pretty confused. "I don't really know why I'm here, Lord, isn't that what You're supposed to tell me?!" But, God only asks us questions to which we already know the answers, which have been imprinted on our hearts. And that answer is always, "I love you."
Even when we feel numb or unworthy, even when we are in bad moods and treating others badly, even when we ourselves are treated badly, the message written on every heart and soul around the world is "I love you." It is this message that keeps our world from falling apart in the society that we live in today, that which forms the only thing that matters to us as human beings. We seek God, we search for Him in lofty emotions, in great thoughts, in powerful and overwhelming senses of love, of charity for others, of happiness. And yet, the greatness of God is contained in the simple phrase, "I love you." The greatness of God is contained in a simple piece of bread, and a few drops of wine. Surely the greatness of God remains with us, even when we do not have the large emotions, the great thoughts, the incredible miracles. Everything is a miracle with God.
God is not in the earthquakes in Haiti, nor the aftershock - He is in the quiet hope for medicine, food, and clean water, in the quiet and unnoticed click of a mouse when you donate to an aid organization, in the quiet prayers of thousands of the faithful for the lives of their brothers in Christ across the water. God is not in the overwhelming sense of despair associated with viewing gritty scenes of war, or contemplating the huge extent of social ills in modern American society, or feeling empowered to change the world. God is in the simple "yes" to waking up to greet the day, to handing over the little that we have to offer Him, such that He can make us great in our littleness, through Christ! Great things are not born of great people, but rather of a great God who deigned to give great honor to little people.
We are here on earth not to feel the greatness of despair, but rather to see the greatness of God in the tiniest grain of sand, on a beach filled with grains of sand. God is here, and God is now, as He will be forevermore! We don't have to do something great to change the world - all the greatness in the world is contained in a single piece of bread!!! What a comfort it is, then, knowing that we, too, can contain all the greatness of the world in the simple hope and love that Christ has already written onto our hearts! That, even when we do not feel it, even when we're in a "funk," or a bad mood, we're still His children, and that there is ALWAYS something to rejoice about: Christ crucified and risen from the dead, and hope everlasting in His promise to love us forever and be with us always!
Like Elijah, we find ourselves on the mountains which God has called us to climb, and we get scared. Here God is not in the blowing winds, or the sunlit paths, and indeed sometimes the road is very dark, and there is no easy way to the top in sight. The road remains covered in snow and ice, there is a sheer drop off the side, and we cannot know what lies ahead, but we can most likely assume that it will get more difficult the closer we get to the top. The climb is treacherous, the road unpaved, our bodies aching from hunger. But we know that God lies not only just ahead, but with us, and that His voice is a tiny piece of bread in the depths of our hunger, a tiny whisper in the depths of the emptiness inside our souls, a gentle breeze to cool our tired, sweaty, aching bodies.
And this little voice is our manna in the desert, our calm in the storm. We have no other refuge other than the rock that is Our God, and what a great God He is, that He can not only fit into a tiny child, but also into a tiny piece of bread, a tiny breeze, and the gentlest whisperings of our otherwise empty soul!!!
In Christ through Mary,
Christina :)
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