Tag: caves

The Good Thing About Caves

October 24, 2018 /

I’m not a fan of caves. I mean really, who is? Disconcerting darkness, and bats and snakes and who knows what else. Think of the boys’ soccer team trapped in that flooded cave in Thailand. Can you even???

But we all have “cave” times that can’t be avoided – times when we are isolated, discouraged, weary, disoriented and feel trapped in the dark, amIright?

And yet…

God does some of His best work in caves! Consider the cave of Adullum where God prepared David to take his role as king (1 Samuel 22). He was on the run from the insecure King Saul and was joined by a band of misfits as he tried to respond with godly patience and respect to Saul.

Maybe you’re in a cave of rejection.

Or the cave at Horeb where God refreshed the exhausted Elijah (1 Kings 19). Remember, he ran there and said, “That’s it! I’m done! No more prophetting for me!”

Maybe you’re in a cave of exhaustion.

Or the cave where Lazarus was buried and Jesus showed both his compassion and power (John 11). Mary and Martha had given up, angry and frustrated that Jesus hadn’t arrived in a timely manner and executed their plan for healing BEFORE death.

Maybe you’re in a cave of overwhelming circumstances and you feel out of control.

So how did God show up in each of these caves and make a difference? In each case He provided. He gave unlikely partners, counsel, food and rest, comfort, healing…and next steps.

What’s interesting to me is what He didn’t provide in the cave times. He didn’t give a detailed explanation of why He had allowed the circumstances that drove David, Elijah, or Lazarus to their caves. But He DID provide perfect timing.

A cave is a place to hold your concerns in God’s presence alone, and that’s good, but caves can become too comfortable. The circumstances that propel us there may be painful, but the cave can begin to feel like a safe place where we’re protected from the meanness of the world. Sometimes we’re tempted to hideout instead of step out with renewed power from God.

But in each of these situations, God does His work and then says “Ok, it’s time to leave.”

Eventually, God sends a prophet to David with this command, “Do not stay in the stronghold.” (1 Samuel 22:5)

After Elijah is rested and refreshed, God says, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord…” and then “Go back the way you came…” (1 Kings 19:11)

Once it was clear nothing could be done, Jesus shouted, “Lazarus come out!” (John 11:43). Yes, He spoke to Lazarus, but there was  cave work being done in the lives of Mary and Martha too.

In each of these caves something needs to die. Self-sufficiency, self-centeredness needs to be snuffed out.

When we’re in a cave, often it seems that God is encouraging us to let go of our false self – the part of us that is dependent on talents, titles, triumphs and re-tweets for our sense of worth. Instead, in the cave we are encouraged to abandon ourselves to God.

So, just a few questions we might ask ourselves about caves:

  • If you’re in a cave right now, what has driven you there? Name your cave.
  • What is the invitation from God in this dark time?
  • Has He finished His work and is He nudging you to step out?

As always, I’d be delighted if you’d share your thoughts with the rest of us. To post a comment, if you receive this in email,  just click on the title. That will take you to the post on the website. Scroll down and post away! If this is your first or second time, don’t worry if it doesn’t show up right away…It will.

 

 

 

 

One Place God Does Some of His Best Work

February 18, 2018 /

I’ve been thinking about caves. Weird, I know, right? But recently I had the privilege of climbing to (on rock steps – we’re not talking ropes and crampons here) and exploring, a series of huge caves on an island in Vietnam. It got me reflecting on caves in the Bible and why people went there. Caves were places of refuge, but usually a last resort, and often dark and lonely.

Here are a few that came to mind. Can you relate to any of these “cave moments”? 

  1. When you’re distressed and afraid.

When Saul is chasing David and he is running for his life he hides in a cave with others who are disillusioned.

1 Samuel 22: 1-3

David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.  All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander.

 Maybe it feels like circumstances are just too much for you and you’re afraid, or angry or discouraged. You may need to hide in God…curl up in the safety of His presence.

2. When you’re exhausted.

After God uses Elijah to miraculously defeat the prophets of Baal, Jezebel is still after him and he runs away, exhausted.

1 Kings 19:3-9

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”  He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”  So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.  There he went into a cave and spent the night.

Note that the first thing God does is meet Elijah’s physical needs. Have you ever noticed how fatigue affects your perspective? John Ortberg writes, “Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is take a nap.” Maybe you need both physical rest and the spiritual rest from striving that God can provide.

3. When you need to grieve a death.

Jesus allows Lazarus to die in order that He can show His power to bring life out of death.

John 11:38-39

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.  “Take away the stone,” he said.

Maybe you’ve experienced the death of a dream and you need God to show you where He is going to bring new life. Maybe you’re waiting for Him to roll away a stone that has been a stumbling block for you. Maybe you need time in your cave to pour out your heart in grief.

After all, it was in a burial cave that Jesus overcame death and made a way for us to live forever with Him, right? 

In caves we may have silence and solitude pressed upon us, but it’s a time to cling to Jesus. Maybe we can draw encouragement from what David wrote when he was in a cave. Psalm 142:1-3

I cry aloud to the Lord;
    I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy.
 I pour out before him my complaint;
    before him I tell my trouble.

When my spirit grows faint within me,
    it is you who watch over my way.

 

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