There was nothing

“And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.” - 1 Kings 18v43

After the defeat of Baal’s prophets on Mt Carmel Elijah knew that the drought was just about over. He told everyone to prepare because there was “a sound of abundance of rain” even though there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

He sent his servant to the coast to see is there was any indication. When he got there, “There was nothing.” He went back five more times – still nothing. On the seventh look there was a small cloud on the horizon, just the sign of a man’s fist. When he told Elijah he told Ahab to get his chariot ready before the rains came. Elijah knew that God was about to work.

How do we respond when we don’t see God doing anything? How many of us would give up the first time we saw nothing. Or the second, or third, or fourth time? How many would have just said on the seventh time, “O, its just a little cloud – nothing to get excited about.”

Elijah had enough faith to know that God was going to work. He acted my faith, not by what he could see. His faith should encourage us to trust God even when we look and “there is nothing.”