Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Kings 18:45-46 (New Living Translation)

45 And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel. 46 Then the Lord gave special strength to Elijah. He tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab’s chariot all the way to the entrance of Jezreel.

This is part of the (hi)story of the prophet Elijah. God had sent a drought on the land. The drought was about to end with a sudden and miraculous rain storm.

Evil Ahab hopped in his chariot and sped towards the town of Jezreel. Elijah tucked his cloak into his belt, tightened the laces of his Nike track shoes (I made up that last phrase), and started running. Elijah ran faster than the galloping horses pulling Ahab’s chariot.

It must have been a jolt of adrenaline that enabled Elijah, right? I mean, that’s the only thing that could explain it. A man, especially an old man dressed like Elijah, just cannot possibly run faster than galloping horses.

Nope. It was special strength from God.

Well, that’s just an old story, right? Wrong. It is right in front of us in black and white. God’s special strength. I cannot explain special strength from God. I’ve never received special strength from God that enabled me to run faster than galloping horses.

Have I ever received special strength from God? Probably. I believe that at some time or another, most of us have. That special strength pushed me to love someone I didn’t like or help someone I didn’t want to help or merely let someone else move in front of me in traffic when I didn’t want to. Special strength is just that—special. There is no explaining it.