Ruins Revisited

1 Kings 18:30

Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins.

My mother is one very sentimental person. She keeps memorabilia of days old, from newspaper clippings to baby cloth diapers, to even our umbilical cords. One fond memory her siblings shared with us was during a big fire in the early 70s and all my mom picked up to save was her box of photo albums. They were laughing hard remembering how our grandmother was so furious in disbelief.  ‘You could have at least grabbed a pot with those photos!’ were my lola’s words, hahaha :> Only now did they appreciate her ‘passion’ whenever they come home from abroad and my mom will show their kids those sepia shots, with once-upon-a-time subtitles of course. That’s ‘history comes alive’ to us :>

After the prophets of Baal failed to call down fire, all eyes were on Elijah. It was his turn to prove his God, is THE God. He called everyone closer so as not to miss a detail. They saw him approach a ruined structure. It was an old altar. Probably from the days of the Judges. It was smashed down, neglected, and forgotten. Next they saw Elijah take twelve stones and with those, he built an altar. Now they became nostalgic. Surely they heard of Joshua and that great story when the rushing waters of Jordan was cut off for all Israel to pass and claim the promise land. It was said that their fathers took twelve stones from there, one for each of the twelve tribes. History would have regarded it as their glory years. Their nationalistic pride was stirring now.  When they heard Elijah pray to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, it struck a chord that shook their hearts to the core. ‘ISRAEL! That’s Us!’ Suddenly, stories of God’s deliverance from Moses’ time in Egypt to David’s great victories over the Philistines and the Canaanites nations came back to life. So that finally, when God answered with fire from heaven, they fell prostrate and cried, ‘The Lord- He is God!’  They were actually the ruins which God rebuilt and revived anew!

Do you have stories of old? Stories when God delivered you from sure troubles and insane people? Stories of timely provisions, of miraculous healing, of answered prayers? Have you kept them down deep, far from reach, and buried in rust and ruins? Then you go about life and wonder why it seems so stagnant and running in circles. You paddle harder and cry louder, but it seems prayers were stuck in that ceiling. You slash your skins day in and out and yet there’s still no fire in your heart, no passion to move on. Elijah said ‘Come closer. Look.’ There you’ll see your worship of God in ruins. When was the last time you prayed? When did you last sought God’s forgiveness? When was the last time you died to yourself and surrendered to His Lordship? Call unto Him. The One true God. He alone can turn your ruins and set your life ablaze again.  Make His-story come alive now!