Heart Tracks - 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. There he went into a cave and spent the night." I Kings 19:8-9

Horeb. The closest meaning for this word is "place of desolation." Places of desolation happen to us in life. Sometimes in part, oftentimes in whole. Here's something else about that place....it's where we can truly come face to face with God.

Moses knew this place. It's where he saw the burning bush and received the fullness of the call of His God. Elijah knew it too. It was here that he sought refuge in the darkness of a cave yet came to see the glorious presence of His God. God uses our place of desolation to reveal our hearts to ourselves, as well as His heart for us. At Horeb, our hearts can be laid bare. We can be laid bare. At Horeb, we think we'll be destroyed. The Father wants us to know it can be the place where we're re-made.

At Horeb, at the place of desolation, our weakness can be turned into His strength. At Horeb, our helplessness can be exchanged for His might. At Horeb, the God we've known only by hearsay can become our reality. At Horeb, the God we thought of in terms of yesterday, becomes our God of today, of this very moment. The One we've only heard about becomes the One we now experience. Dutch Sheets said that He can be "a Healer, Savior, and a thousand other things, yet be none of these to you."

Moses believed he was trapped on the backside of the desert. Elijah cowered alone in a cave. They were both in a desolate place but that place was made holy because their God showed up. That place was transformed, they were transformed because when He showed up, they were willing to show up as well. The place they thought they would never emerge from became the place that led them into a deeper knowledge, experience and relationship with Him. In the place they thought would swallow them up, He instead raised them up. At Horeb, the place of desolation, God showed Himself mighty. Can you dare to believe that He will do so for you?

If you're at your own Horeb, don't try to escape it or make your own way out. Wait upon Him there. One of the works He will do is to allow that place to reveal who it is, what it is you really trust in. Let God do His work and fulfill His purpose at your Horeb. If you've come to Horeb, to Desolation Mountain, stand still there and meet your God. He will be there. He is there. He'll make the place of your desolation the place of your salvation...if you'll just trust Him.

Blessings,
Pastor O