6/2/14

From Gary... After the storm- then what?


http://www.957kjr.com/onair/luciana-bosio-45943/the-cello-cover-of-acdcs-thunderstruck-12093050/

Theatrics aside, this is an interesting composition.  It reminds me of a somewhat less sophisticated version of Mussorgsky's  Night on a bare mountain  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCEDfZgDPS8.  However, both do manage to convey the power of a storm and after all, that is the point- ISN'T IT???  But, after God's exhibition of power is over- then what???  This is how one famous prophet reacted...

1 Kings, Chapter 19
1Ki 19:1  Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
1Ki 19:2  Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time."
1Ki 19:3  And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
1Ki 19:4  But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers."
1Ki 19:5  He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, "Arise, eat."
1Ki 19:6  Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.
1Ki 19:7  The angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you."
1Ki 19:8  So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.
1Ki 19:9  Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
1Ki 19:10  He said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
1Ki 19:11  So He said, "Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
1Ki 19:12  After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.
1Ki 19:13  When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
1Ki 19:14  Then he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
1Ki 19:15  The LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram;
1Ki 19:16  and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.
1Ki 19:17  "It shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death.
1Ki 19:18  "Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him."

After God's seeing God's power in 1 Kings, chapter 18, Elijah should have continued in doing God's bidding, but instead, cowered at the word of Jezebel (verse 2). He ran from her and longed to die, but God had other plans. He provided for the next step in Elijah's mission and encouraged him with the words "What are you doing here, Elijah?".  I especially like the passage that I emphasized in red, because Mussorgy's and AC-DC's musical compositions both remind me of the fury of a thunderstorm.  But, after one has seen God's power- Then what?  The answer has always been to keep seeking God and HIS WILL FOR YOUR LIFE!!!  And, oh, yes-  DO IT!!!