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WORD AMONG US WAU.ORG Reflections
Daily Meditation: 1 Kings 19:9, 11-13
The Lord will be passing by. (1 Kings 19:11)
Today’s readings seem to have a lot in common: great displays of God’s power, natural disturbances, reasons to fear. But the most important thing that happens in them is the fact that God makes his presence known. Whether it’s in Jesus’ walking on the water or in the tiny whisper that Elijah heard, the Lord comes to his children.
Fleeing a threat to his life, the prophet Elijah was so frustrated that he didn’t want to continue his mission. So he sat under a tree and asked to die. But the angel of the Lord fed him and guided him to a mountain where “the Lord [would] be passing by” (1 Kings 19:11). God was not in the strong wind, in the earthquake, or in the fire, however. He was in “a tiny whispering sound” (19:12). In today’s Gospel, the disciples were in a boat that was being tossed by the wind and the waves when they saw Jesus coming “toward them walking on the sea” (Matthew 14:25). Of course they were terrified!
You can probably relate. There are moments in life when it can feel as if you are being tossed by the “wind” or shaken by an “earthquake”: a serious illness, the loss of a job, a loved one who walks away from the Lord. When unexpected situations happen, you might want to look for “shelter” in “a cave” (1 Kings 19:9). You might be afraid or you might have “little faith” (Matthew 14:31). Because it might feel as if the Lord is absent, as if he doesn’t care, or as if you’re beyond his help.
But God wants to reassure you. He is passing by! He’s inviting you to the “mountain”—a quiet place where you can pray and pour out your heart—to spend time with him. He wants you to remember that he comes to you, he stretches out his hand, and he holds you and keeps you steady. Then he says: “Take courage . . . ; do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27).
“Lord, I know you come to my aid. Help me to trust in you.”
