"The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by". Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper."
~ 1 Kings 19: 11,12

I remember as a young preacher, I was always fascinated when I laid hands on people and they fell down. Sometimes I would blow air on them and they will just fall. Then I’d think that was the glory of God; the power of God at work.

So when I went for programmes or open air crusades in churches, I was always after those things. And when I didn’t see any of those things, I felt like God didn’t move that day. But whenever I saw those things happening, I would get excited along with the rest of the people. I would dance around and say to myself, ‘Yeah I’m a man of God.’

However, as I grew older and more experienced in ministry, I began to take stock of what I was doing. I began to look at all the people that had been falling down. I watched their lives, and had to ask myself, ‘What’s the point?’ I evaluated every facet of their lives that I could observe and I discovered that in most cases, there were no remarkable changes. There was nothing to show for all the ‘falling under the anointing’ as it is termed in religion. Their results were not commensurate with the ‘power’ displayed.

At that point those things ceased to move me anymore. I came to the place where Elijah was when he asked that poignant question, ‘What’s the point?’ Elijah had come to the point where he was no longer responding to the winds, earthquakes, and fire.

Many a time, in religious gatherings, you see people performing different forms of body gyrations in the name of prayer. And folks go like, ‘Oh that’s the power of God.’ A lot of people respond to that.

I think you need to get to the point in your life where you don’t respond to spectacles, where you don’t respond to noise. Elijah was no more responding to the wind and earthquake vibrations celebrated in religion today. He was concerned more with the effectiveness of power display in relation to his God-given mission.