He was going to die. Today. Right here. On this desolate road with no witnesses. He wished he had known earlier. A memo yesterday would have been appreciated. It would have given him time to arrange his schedule. Be somewhere else. Call in sick. Make a dentist appointment. Schedule a top secret meeting for the same time the king had him out wandering the countryside in search of any creekbeds still trickling water. Basically, Obadiah would have done anything to not be standing on this path, facing this man, being given this command.
Elijah clearly had no idea what he was asking. Three years ago the prophet had dropped into their world with his doomsday drought announcement only to immediately disappear without a trace. King Ahab had been furious. Still was. He made no secret of his desire to see Elijah dead for his declaration. Watching the prophecy come to fruition had only fueled his bloodthirsty desire. The king had sent messengers into the surrounding nations and kingdoms in search of Elijah. He made them swear he wasn’t there, they hadn’t seen him, they weren’t helping him abscond. Indeed, no one had seen the man since he’d made his surprise visit to Ahab that fateful day. And not a day had gone by that Ahab hadn’t spent time searching for him.
Over the three years of Elijah’s absence, Ahab’s hatred for him had grown to epic proportions. If possible, the queen’s hatred was even greater. In her rage, she had slaughtered the prophets of God. Mass murder with no regard, no remorse. She thought she had gotten them all. She hadn’t. Obadiah, the very man to whom Elijah was now speaking, had secreted one hundred men away. They were hiding in two caves, solely dependent on food and water from Obadiah’s hand. He had done everything he could to protect and preserve the people of God. Surely he deserved a reward, not the punishment of being the guy who went to tell the king he had accidentally run across his mortal enemy and that enemy was requesting an audience.
The problem wasn’t really with finding the king and telling him the news. He knew where Ahab was. He knew what his reaction would be. Ahab would be elated. The problem was trusting Elijah to be in that exact same place when Obadiah returned with Ahab. Elijah had a reputation for not hanging around in one place very long. He was known for disappearing when things got hairy. Obadiah had lived through the ensuing mayhem of Elijah’s original disappearance. He wasn’t excited about an encore. If Obadiah brought Ahab back with the promise of a face-to-face encounter with Elijah, yet returned to find the man of God missing, heads were going to roll. More accurately, one head. His head. Obadiah’s. He wasn’t thrilled with the possibility. He’d been skating under the radar, monitoring things and doing what good he could for three years. Every day he lived with the possibility of being discovered as a follower of God. Every day he risked his life for the sake of the Lord. Yet here stood Elijah asking him to take the biggest risk he’d ever taken. Go get Ahab. Tell him Elijah is here to see him. Trust Elijah to still be there when they got back. It was an enormous ask.
Apparently, Elijah wasn’t as crazy as his request made him seem. Those days by Cherith and hiding out at the widow’s house in Zaraphath must have taught him empathy. He offered Obadiah the greatest promise he could give him. The only reason he’d still be there when they got back. The one truth that sustained him the last three years and the only thing that brought his feet back to Ahab this day. He made a declaration. “Standing here in the presence of God, I promise you, I will see Ahab today.” This wasn’t a joke, a whim, or an experiment. Elijah understood the gravity of his own position. He wasn’t going anywhere. He was in the presence of God. Always. Everywhere he went, Elijah was keenly aware of the presence of God. Before him. Behind him. Beside him. Within him. He understood God’s omnipresence. He wouldn’t lie or deceive or mistreat Obadiah, because whether or not he felt it, whether or not the still small voice was currently speaking, whether or not he wanted to recognize it, Elijah knew that every moment of every day, every being in existence constantly stands in the presence of Almighty God. (I Kings 18:1-15)
Elijah was not the only one who comprehended that truth. In the beautiful words of Psalm 139, David expands on the same concept. God is omnipresent. Everywhere. Always. Nowhere is exempt from the presence of God. Not the depths. Not the heights. Not your thoughts. Not your words. No part of anyone’s life is hidden from Him. Your thoughts and words and ways lay open before the just Judge of all the earth. Elijah understood it. David comprehended it. Yet we so often forget it. God is with us. Always. He knows our thoughts. He hears our words before they even come out of our mouths. He knows the true state of our hearts. There is no escape from His presence. You can’t outrun Him. You can’t hide from Him. Wherever you go, God is. Your darkest valley. Your toughest moment. Your greatest victory. God is there. He knows it all. And He still thinks infinite thoughts of unfailing love about you. (Psalm 139:1-12, 17)
The love of God transcends the mess you have gotten yourself into with your hasty words and ill-planned deeds. It goes beyond the fear and anxiety and stress that wreaks havoc on your life. It has plans and dreams for you that have never crossed your finite mind. The love of God is deep and broad and the thoughts He thinks about you are more in number than the sand on the beach. All the sand. On every beach. Have you been there? To the beach? Have you grabbed up a handful of sand and begun the monumentally impossible task of counting each grain? Is it even possible? Not likely. (Psalm 139:17-18)
When my children were still toddlers, we visited the beach. I must have done it wrong. Perhaps everyone else knew where to find sand-resistant swimwear. I didn’t. I hated that trip. Sand was everywhere. Glued to scalps. Caked behind knees. No amount of vacuuming eradicated the final grains of sand from my car. I quickly learned that I only like the beach in the winter when it is too chilly to build sand castles and bury our legs in mountains of sand. In the winter, the beach is absolutely lovely from the balcony of my hotel. The sound of the waves lapping the shore is completely relaxing. The lack of pleasure seekers on the sand offers me the quiet time to stare at that sand and contemplate the unfathomable number of loving, caring thoughts God has about me every single day.
It is that very contemplation that brings me to the same space as Elijah. The place where I know with my heart and believe with every fiber of my being that every moment of every day I am in the presence of Almighty God. At my desk. In the car. At the grocers. Wherever I am, God is. The thought changes how I live. It adds weight to my promises. It gives substance to my words. It makes me pause in moments when I would normally react and allows me to respond instead. It drives me to my place of prayer to cry out the final two sentences of Psalm 139, “Search me, know me, try me, and uncover the measure of my heart, Lord. Point out the things in me that bring offense to You and lead me in ways that bring You glory.” In essence, change me, Lord. Change me. (Psalm 139:23-24)
Sometimes we wonder what Elijah did during his time at Cherith. What little the Bible tells us about his time there often leads us to believe he just sat by the dwindling brook waiting for the ravens to deliver his doordash. But Elijah’s words to Obadiah changed that for me. Those words speak of a deep knowledge and awareness of God in his life. They speak of a closeness with the Almighty. They exhibit a knowledge of his place in the world, a knowledge of Whose world it really is. Those words tell me that when Elijah left Cherith, he knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he was constantly living, walking, working in the presence of Almighty God, and he had surrendered himself to His authority. His words came from God. His actions were led by God. Wherever he went, no matter where it was, Elijah knew, God was there. Wherever he was standing, whoever he was standing with, God was there. Every moment. Every day. He was living in the continual presence of God.
Maybe you have never given much thought to God’s omnipresence. Perhaps it only crosses your mind in impossible circumstances. Maybe you only consider it when you think He should be acting but you can’t see His hand. No matter. I assure you. He is there. Always. The knowledge should change your life. Living in the awareness of the continual presence of God should alter the way you conduct yourself. Remembering that God is right beside you reading your thoughts and listening to your words should change your conversations. Believing that God is right at your elbow should reshape your actions, reactions, and attitudes. Inhabiting the space where you know and believe you are constantly surrounded by God should completely realign your life. It should give you courage in hard times, strength in moments of struggle, peace in the raging storms of life. Because He is there. With you. He is as close as the mention of His name. He is present. Everywhere. Always. No matter who you are, what you have done, or where you stand, you are in His presence. May you know it. May you believe it. May you remember it. And may the God in whose presence you stand change your life. (Psalm 16:8; 139:7-12; Proverbs 15:3; Jeremiah 17:10; 23:23-24; John 14:27; Deuteronomy 31:6; II Corinthians 12:10; Philippians 4:6-7)