Look Again!

Look Again!

by Kelly Evans

“…and [Elijah] said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So, he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.” Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So, he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’ Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel”

(1 Kings 18:43-45 (NKJV).

The repetitive interaction between Elijah and his servant offers a comical tone to this story. As we look deeper, the passage inspires our faith as writers through this example of perseverance. Elijah told his servant seven times to look for the rain God had promised. Six times the servant came back, explaining he didn’t see any rain.

“There is nothing,” the servant continued to tell him.

Each time, Elijah answered, “Go again.”

It wasn’t until the seventh time that the servant came back to Elijah and reported seeing “a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea.” That’s when Elijah told him, “Hurry! Before the rain can stop you, hitch up your chariot and go!”

The sky grew dark and ominous. And the rain finally came in abundance.

Like Elijah’s servant, I’ve often stared at the emptiness of the computer screen or the empty lines of a notebook and declared, “There is nothing!”

In response, I’ve heard God tell me, “Kelly, look again.”

“Still nothing!”

The Lord persisted, “Look again!”

I’ve gone back. I’ve looked again. Six times. Sixty times. Six hundred times.

Soon. Something. Not even a whole something, but a fragment of something. An idea. A flash of faith, of inspiration, no bigger than a speck.

I write a word. Then, I write a series of words. A sentence forms. That sentence becomes a paragraph. That paragraph becomes two. Several paragraphs later, I have a chapter. Suddenly, it rains. A story emerged where once there was nothing. I hitched my wagon and went!

God takes my nothing and helps me create something, just like he does for each of us. Through our pens and our specks of faith, like the rain, He flows.

Father, thank you for the specks of words and faithfulness, like raindrops you have hidden away in the clouds of my imagination for me to find. Thank you, Lord, that not only do you not give up on me, but you have also not allowed me to give up on me. Thank you for the rain I do not yet see. Yet, I know it’s there. Amen.

 

Kelly Evans is a thankful writer God sent back, one more time, to see if anything was coming. As a poet and blogger, her head is constantly in the clouds looking to see what’s hidden. She’s also a suspense writer and is currently working on her latest manuscript. You can connect with her at https://kellyanneonline.com.