Mount Horeb

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.

 

1 Kings 19:8

Elijah and Moses were men of great zeal and passionate about their causes. Moses sought to free the Hebrews from the tyranny of slavery by killing an Egyptian with his own hand. Elijah, after calling down fire on the evil prophets of Baal, found himself spent physically and emotionally to the point he asked God to take his life.

Immediately after these two events—500 years apart from one another—both men were led to the same Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. In Hebrew, Horeb means "desolation." This barren environment mirrored the condition of Moses and Elijah. For Moses, it was 40 years of barrenness. For Elijah, it was 40 days without food. Elijah became tired of standing alone for God.

At times, as believers, we often become so focused on the goal we forget to meet God at our own Mount Horeb. This was the place God met both Moses and Elijah. And it proved to be a place of renewal, a place of new beginnings, a place of personal encounter with the living God.

Perhaps Elijah's greatest virtue was his zeal.

 

Indeed, we shall see that twice in his communication with God, Elijah speaks of having been "very zealous" for the Lord. But zeal, unattended eventually becomes its own God; it compels us toward expectations, which are unrealistic, and outside the timing and anointing of God.

To remain balanced, zeal must be reined in and harnessed by strategic encounters with the living God. We otherwise become frustrated with people and discouraged with delays. And then tend to step outside our place of strength and spiritual protection from God.

When we fail to take time to meet God in the place He has established as our Mount Horeb, we miss out on valuable time in which we will grown in a deeper intimacy with Him. As we grow closer to God and are sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit which dwells inside us, He will guide us in the direction that God has chosen for us and this is the greatest measure of success.

 

God, take us to the mountain of Your presence... the place that You have established for us to be renewed and prepared to go forth and accomplish the calling You have on our lives for Your glory!