⁴⁴ Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.” Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’” ⁴⁵ And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel.
1 Kings 18:44-45

Offer me two places to eat and I’ll make a choice.  And then I’ll say, “Or we can go to ___________.”  It’s my desperate attempt at covering my bases.  Where does that idiom come from anyway?  It obviously has it’s roots in baseball, but (interestingly enough) there are different theories as to which part.  My personal favorite?  “It’s a reference to the pitchers responsibility to make sure no one steals a base before his pitch. With bases loaded, he obviously has to keep an eye on all the bases.”

So, when I cover my bases I am preparing for every possibility, but I still have to throw the pitch.  I can’t just stop in the middle of the inning and wait for something to happen.  As a pitcher, in order for play to continue, I have to throw the ball. 

Sometimes we think that God has already made up his mind.  We pray for safety, for blessings, for our food… and all these things are good things to pray for.  But just as God is bigger than we can imagine so must our prayers be.  After all, don’t we trust in a God that is bigger than our circumstances.

Elijah hears the storm before he sees the storm.  The drought was into it’s third year and many probably had forgotten what rain on their face felt like.  It didn’t rain yesterday, or last month, or even last year, so why would it rain now?  And Elijah bowed his head.

“Finally, the seventh time, his servant told him, ‘I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.’”  And as Elijah shouted to the servant, the sky grew black with clouds.  Rain was on its way.

Offer me two choices…  Pray to the Lord for the big and the small or pray for just enough to get by.  I won’t worry about covering my bases anymore.  I won’t put God in my box.  I won’t pretend that I pray big prayers and stop at protection, blessings, and gratitude.
The rain may not come the first time I pray, but it will come.  Not because of how eloquent my prayers are, but because I lift my eyes to the One who not only hears me but acts on my behalf for my good and His glory.

Father, rain on our land and reign in our hearts.  Can’t wait to share with you this weekend!
Soli Deo Gloria!
F –