Mt. Carmel was the scene of some of Elijah's greatest moments as a prophet of God. It's the place he challenged King Ahab and all of the false prophets at work in Israel. It's the place he called fire down from heaven to consume his sacrifice and turned the people back to the Lord. He slew the false prophets and prayed for the rain Israel hadn't seen in three and a half years. Then he outran the king's chariot back to Jezreel, nearly twenty miles away.
All in a day's work for God's man.
As ministers, we're always looking for our "Mt. Carmel" moments. (Admit it. You know it's the truth.) We all want to experience those times when the power of God is evident in signs and wonders and the people respond. I'd love to call down a move of God on par with Mt. Carmel.
But the reality is that Mt. Carmel doesn't happen often. Smoke and fire and thunder from heaven consuming our sacrifices and proving our God just isn't an everyday occurrence. At least not for me.
This week I'll baptize sixteen prison inmates, all of whom have made a profession of faith in Christ. They're ready to "go public" with this thing. Sixteen men! Convicts turning to the Lord!
The truth is I feel like we've just kind of been plodding along. No flashes. No fire. No false prophets to be slain. Nothing extraordinary. Just showing up every day. But lives are being changed by the power of God nonetheless.
Mt. Carmel would be kind of cool. Some noise and fire and smoke would sure shake things up. But It seems to me that if we spend all of our time looking for the next "Mt. Carmel" move of the Almighty, we might miss what's He's doing in us, through us, and all around us. And that would be a shame.
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