Today’s Scripture Reading (November
26, 2019): 1 Kings 17
I have
to admit that I love solitude. I know that not everyone does. I love to sit in
my office on quiet days and just work on whatever needs doing. In the evenings,
if there isn’t something that needs to be done, I am comfortable sitting with a
book and reading. And I read pretty much everything. In fact, and again I know
that I stand with the few in this, I would rather read the story and allow my
imagination to soar, then to have it read to me in the form of an audible book,
or even watch the movie version of the story. One of the books that everyone
else seems to have read in school, but was never on my reading list was “To
Kill a Mockingbird.” But I watched the old black and white movie version of the
book a few years ago and realized that I needed to read the story from the
pages written by Harper Lee. A few summers ago, I accomplished that task and
loved every minute of it.
But I
think there might be two reasons why I love solitude. First, I was forced into isolation
as a child by illness. I learned at a very early age to live in my own world. I
learned to pretend and imagine and dream because sometimes these were the only
activities in which I was able to participate. It was there, in the quiet of my
room, that I fell in love with books, reading everything on which I could lay
my hands. But the second reason for my love of solitude is that I seem to live
in a hectic world. And it is good once in a while to be forced to be by
yourself.
Elijah
bursts on to the scene with a message. A drought is coming, and rain would not
return until Elijah said that the drought was finished. And then God sends a
message to the prophet. Leave and go and hide in the Kerith Ravine. Kerith
carries the meaning to be cut off, a theme that follows throughout the life of
Elijah. And Elijah’s forced solitude in the Kerith Ravine was for his own
protection. It is important to note that throughout the story of Elijah, God
leads the prophet one step at a time. He doesn’t tell Elijah about the Kerith
Ravine until after Elijah has delivered his message to Ahab. God won’t tell the
prophet about Zarephath until after the brook at the Kerith Ravine finally
dries up. This step by step leading of God will frustrate the prophet later in
the story, as it sometimes frustrates us, but it seems to be the way God takes
us into our future.
The
Kerith Ravine is a long way away. It is on the east side of the River Jordan
and out of the control of Ahab. No one will search for the prophet in such an
out of the way place. It is a place where Elijah can truly be alone. But this
solitude is not a punishment visited on Elijah by God. This solitude is for the
benefit of the prophet. And, sometimes, the solitude that we face is for our
benefit as well, even when we don’t really want to be alone. I love the words
of F.B. Meyers concerning our time in the Kerith or, as he spells it, Cherith
Ravine.
“We must not be surprised, then, if sometimes our Father says: ‘There,
child, thou hast had enough of this hurry, and publicity, and excitement; get
thee hence, and hide thyself by the brook – hide thyself in the Cherith of the
sick chamber; or in the Cherith of disappointed hopes; or in the Cherith of
bereavement; or in some solitude from which the crowds have ebbed away.’”
There
are times when we all need to be alone. And yet we know that with God, we are
never really alone. It was a truth that Elijah came to understand during his
time at the Kerith Ravine.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1
Kings 18
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