cloud.

One of my favorite Bible stories is in 1 Kings, chapter 18. No kidding.

Here’s what’s happening. There’s this prophet named Elijah who has been involved in some of the greatest displays of God’s power that Israel has seen since the days of Moses and Joshua. In this particular story, Israel has been in a drought for a few years – another display of power God enacted through Elijah – and one day Elijah told the king to prepare for a heavy rain. So Elijah goes up to this mountain to pray, I guess, and he tells his servant to “go and look toward the sea.”
The servant goes, comes back and says, “There’s nothing there.”
Elijah tells him to go back and check again.
Servant comes back, says the same thing.
This happens 8 times. Finally, the servant comes back to Elijah and says, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”
Well, Elijah takes that as the sign that God is sending rain, and he runs (faster than a horse and chariot) all the way back before the storm hits.

Kind of a random story, at first glance. However, I think it’s pretty timely…

Note that the servant told Elijah he saw a cloud “as small as a man’s hand.” That’s a pretty small cloud! I wonder if the guy would have noticed that cloud if it had been there the first time he went to the sea…or would it rather have blended into the landscape?

Maybe seeing nothing at all so many times in a row made the servant more perceptive of the first sign, small as it was, that a storm was finally coming.

Here’s the application:
Have you ever needed God to move on your behalf, but for the longest time nothing seemed to happen?
Maybe God, Who is always at work on our behalf, gives us seasons where nothing seems to happen so that when He does start to move visibly, we’re able to notice it from the first moment. Maybe He uses those periods of no activity to heighten our awareness of what He’s really doing, so that we can actively take part in that journey with Him from start to finish.

So where are you right now? If you’re experiencing that season of drought, keep in mind that God hears your prayers, and He is on the move whether you see it or not. Maybe He wants to use this time to sharpen your senses for when He takes visible action…And the next thing you know, after a drought you thought would never end, you find yourself in the middle of a downpour.