Tilting the World

 

As I write, it’s raining. Again. Drops of heavy summer rain fall, languidly, from the forsythia outside the dining room window, I can almost hear the rhubarb sprouting and the courgettes burgeoning. Two out of my three children are engaged in outdoor activities. Oops. ‘Let’s get you over to Grandma’s to finish cutting the hedge now it’s stopped raining,’ I said cheerily to the eldest. ‘Of course you can go to the skate park!’ I assured the youngest. Oh well. It’s only rain. It’s not like – I don’t know – holy fire or anything.

Inspiration’s a funny thing. I read Philippa’s excellent blog and thought, “Yes! That’s how I’m feeling.’ I speed-read the Poetry Society newsletter and was gripped by this phrase. “I’m looking for poems which tilt the world for me.” That’s one of the National Poetry judges. I grasped that image and held on to it. Finally, on the way back from the school run (did I mention it was raining?) Elijah popped into my mind. Who knows why.

 I don’t read the Bible nearly as much as I should, but many passages are embedded in my mind. One of my very favourite stories is that of Elijah on Mount Carmel. In 1 Kings 18 we find him challenging Ahab and the prophets of Baal to what you might call a miracle-off. He gives the prophets all day to wail, cut themselves, dance, prophesy and call on their god, but not a single solitary ember or flame appears on their sacrificial altar. Elijah is often portrayed as a fairly serious fellow, but I can’t help but think that there was a twinkle in his eye as he said, “Shout louder! Perhaps Baal is deep in thought, or busy, or travelling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”

 The moment God sends holy fire down to consume Elijah’s sacrifice is the dramatic climax to a wonderful piece of storytelling. Everyone gets it, bows down to the true God and the prophets of Baal come to a sticky end. That should be, if not the end of the story, at least the part that drives the narrative along to Elijah’s next God-given success. However, it isn’t. And that’s why this is one of my favourite stories. 

The land is ruled by Ahab, hen-pecked husband of wicked Jezebel who has turned the people away from God. Elijah has God on his side, has proved that Baal is made up and should surely be advancing on the palace full of holy confidence. In Chapter 19, however, we find him departing at high speed in the opposite direction. Jezebel, a nasty piece of work if ever there was one, has sent him a death threat which Elijah is taking seriously. We find him under a broom tree in the wilderness and it is here that he speaks some of my favourite words in the entire Old Testament. “I have had enough, Lord.”

Which one of us has not at some point slumped down under a metaphorical broom tree and uttered those words? And, as I often remind myself, if Elijah, anointed prophet of the Lord can feel that way, so can I.

Elijah keeps listening to the Lord and as we all know, does eventually jump back into the story. And what a story it is! Strong characters, a cloud no bigger than a man’s hand, Elijah being filled with holy power and outrunning a chariot, flames leaping to the heavens as thousands bow before the Lord, our hero turning tail and fleeing as Jezebel breathes out dire threats and the eventual downfall of her evil rule. If I’d written something like that, I’d be waiting for the BBC Drama Department to come knocking.

A story written thousands of years ago still has the power to tilt my world. I wonder what all the Israelites thought the day would hold when they got up that morning. Probably just the usual. Breakfast, work, lunch, more work, dinner, bed. And yet they witnessed a great miracle and the hand of God sending fire down from heaven. If that didn’t tilt their world, I don’t know what would. 

One one way and another, I’ve said, “I have had enough, Lord” a fair bit this year. It hasn’t been an easy one. I appreciate it’s nothing compared to the power struggle between Elijah and Jezebel, but that broom tree has been looking fairly tempting. As a Christian writer, I want my words to touch people and for God to speak through them. It seems like a fairly tall order some days, but I need to remind myself I’m not doing it alone. And neither are you.

Images by freebibleimages and author's own

Ruth is a novelist and freelance writer. She is married with three children, one husband, two budgies, two quail, eight chickens and a kitten. Her first novel, “The Diary of Isabella M Smugge”, came out in February this year and the sequel, “The Trials of Isabella M Smugge” comes out in October.  She writes for a number of small businesses and charities and blogs at ruthleighwrites.co.uk. She has abnormally narrow sinuses and a morbid fear of raw tomatoes, but has decided not to let this get in the way of a meaningful life. You can find her on Instagram and Twitter at ruthleighwrites.