Find Your Mount Sinai

A Series on God’s Call to Ministry

1 Kings 19:1-18

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings%2019%3A1-18&version=NIV;NLT

[Preface: How do you know what your calling in life is? Will you know from a big bang experience? Or will it come quietly, almost imperceptible? Will you be inspired by the stories of a visiting missionary; or a book that opens your eyes to the needs of a specific people group; or from your own life experience? This series is about God’s call to ministry for your life; what it means or doesn’t mean.]

The devil is in the details.

As a young, single man, I worked as a painter for several years. Outdoor painting was the worst because it involved scraping off the old paint. Flecks of paint would fly into my eyes; I’d scratch my knuckles on the wood siding; and I would do all this in the heat and humidity of the summer while thirty feet up in the air.

But the details were critical. You had to pay attention to the details to prepare the surface properly in order for the final product to look good. If you didn’t, then somebody would say, “Look, you missed a spot”. The devil is in the details.

Besides house painting, this saying is true in many aspects of life. It’s true in your marriage, your work, your ministry and your faith life. The “details” of life can push back to the point where you want to give up; you want to quit. That’s what happened to Elijah.

Elijah had recently faced off with 450 prophets of Baal in a fire burning contest. He decisively won the contest, and proceeded to have the prophets killed. Queen Jezebel wanted revenge, so she threatened Elijah’s life! He immediately ran away.

⁴ Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”      NLT

Eventually, he went to Mount Sinai; the same place where Moses met the Lord in the burning bush. While there, Elijah hid in a cave and the Lord came to him and spoke to him. Not through the wind or the earthquake or the fire… but through a still small voice.

And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” NLT

Elijah was called to be a prophet of the Lord. He had experienced many miraculous events in his life. And yet, he lost sight of his calling; lost sight of his prophetic purpose; lost sight of the Lord… the devil is in the details.

Actually though, that isn’t true. The truth is, that God is in the details. He has a plan for your life; he’s always at work in your life and he loves you unconditionally. 

So go ahead and find your Mount Sinai. Spend some time alone with the Lord. Let him speak to you in a still small voice.