God of Contradiction or God of Communion?

The old prophet found himself at an impasse, the confusing dead-end where his impeccable theology has collided with his depressing reality . He has reached the place where all his past experiences, his genuine knowledge of the God he serves appear insufficient to get him over to the other side of hopelessness and fear.

But there is more, much more to this God-of-Blazing-Flames, to this God-of-Raging-Fire than Elijah knows.   

Elijah knows His passion.

Elijah knows His power.

But there is more to God than His fiery power.

And in order to learn more of the heart of this incomprehensible God, Elijah first must unlearn some things.  He must surrender, loosen up the firm grip he has placed on what he knows that he knows that he knows of his God.  

So, one clenched finger at a time, Elijah learns to let go… let go of the hurricane force winds… let go of the mountain-splitting earthquake… and most difficult of all… let go of…the  fire…

But the LORD was not in the fire…

But the LORD… was NOT … in the fire…?

What was going through Elijah’s mind in that moment?

We don’t know.

But, the seasoned prophet doesn’t fanatically insist that the LORD must be in the fire.  He doesn’t insist that God squeezes into his own limited idea of the where’s and the when’s and the how’s of God’s mysterious ways.

If he did, he wouldn’t be serving the LORD but a distorted image of his own making.