Elijah traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.  There he went into a cave and spent the night (1 Kings 19:8-9).

God does some of his best work in confined spaces.  Jonah inside a great fish. Paul writing much of our New Testament from prison, and John, the Book of Revelation from a penal island in the Aegean Sea.  Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison, Dr. King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail—all emerged from a place of confinement.

And, the most important confined space in history: the tomb from which Jesus stepped on Easter morning, God doing his best work of all in this tightest of spaces!

Our next sermon series is called Shelter.  A shelter is a place of safety, protection, and peace: a place to escape to, hide out in, until the danger that drove us to seek shelter has passed.

And yet: anyone starting to feel a bit of cabin fever?  Going a wee bit “stir crazy”? Sheltered—or confined? Maybe a mixture of both.  Let’s listen closely to God’s Word and ask the Spirit to show us how it speaks to our situation.

In this week’s passage, Elijah is on the run, fleeing for his life from the rage of powerful rulers who have vowed to kill him.  Supported by angelic energy food, he flees for forty days, all the way to Mount Sinai (also known as Horeb), where he takes shelter in a cave.

God allows his prophet to run.  When he runs out of gas, God sends an angel, not to rebuke Elijah or turn him around, but to nourish him—to give to Elijah what Elijah needs, but does not have and cannot generate for himself.  When Elijah complains, God listens. Eventually, God speaks. First a question: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Then a summons: “Go out and stand on the mountain, in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”  Finally, a directive: “Go back …”

This week’s passage is about our ongoing need for a fresh and deeper encounter with God.  What has gotten us to this point in our journey may not be all we need for the road ahead.  Tight spaces are where God can get our attention, reveal himself anew to us, and speak a fresh word of orientation and direction for our lives.

What do we most need, in these times and in all times?  Growing attentiveness to the Lord. A deeper knowing of God’s character and love and reconciling purposes. A personal encounter with the Word of God, both written and preeminently in Jesus Christ—an encounter that brings reorientation, fresh direction, and indomitable hope.

How are you sensing God’s reorienting work in your life in these days of anxiety and uncertainty, of sheltering in place and wondering when it will end?  What are one or two ways you are putting God’s reorientation into practice?