What are you doing here?

The Lord Appears to Elijah

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19: 9-13 

I went through this passage last week using the Lectio process.  In this passage, I've always focused on the still small voice and tried to ponder how we often look for God in the dramatic things of life while often missing the quiet whisper God has for us when we are still and can listen in to his heartbeat when we are discouraged... 

This time, the words "What are you doing here?" seemed to be written in bold and in all capital letters, and I could not stop chewing on them last week. 

God asks the question… 
What are you doing here, Elijah?
I hear it too. The question. The whisper.
What are you doing here, Emily?
It’s been stuck on my heart-- checking my motives. 
Teaching me. Convicting me. Leading me. Shaping me. 
What am I doing here? As I've been running errands or trying to fit one more thing into my day, as I've been in class with students, as I'm with Jason and with the kids, as I've been in the car or on my bike or logging miles with my running shoes on,  as I've been cooking dinner--- this question has kept coming back to me.  This has reminded me of conversations we've had about mindfulness over the years, and I know that I have so much to learn here.  Am I present here as a wife, a mom, a friend, a daughter, a neighbor, a teacher?  Am I missing something?  Could I be hearing something more here? Am I living simply? Am I seeing people who intersect my path as interruptions or as the very reason I am here? Am I celebrating, savoring, and giving thanks? I know I cannot do all these things at once, but the thing I want to do is to learn to listen to God's gentle question "What are you doing here?" as an invitation to walk with Him right now, right here... 


know that I am praying for your family today to be present, to love well, and to rest in God's love for you right here, right now....