Stewart had been having a pretty rough time of it lately. His work environment was getting more and more disagreeable. The people who were around him at work were becoming more hostile toward him. You see, the boss always seemed to like Stewart’s work most of all. Stewart was rewarded with the boss doing exactly what he wanted. But this really made things hard between him and his co-workers.

Most of his co-workers preferred to work with the lower management. They would appeal to them and would try to work around the boss’s power. Stewart didn’t think the lower management knew what in the world was going on. He thought they were leading the company in the wrong direction. So the lower management who knew that the boss listened to Stewart did everything they could to make Stewart’s life miserable.

Finally he just couldn’t take it any more. So after a particularly rough day, he got in his car and just drove. He didn’t tell anyone where he was going. He didn’t go home and pack a bag. He just jumped in his car and went.

Mile after mile sped past as Stewart got farther and farther away from his workplace. Finally, exhausted by the drive, Stewart saw the lights from a diner up ahead. He pulled off the road and went in to eat.

Angela’s Diner had a few other customers in it. Some sat at the counter and others sat in the booths. A smiling waitress wearing a nametag that said Angela came to Stewart and took his order. Angela called his order back to Herald, who was working the grill. In a short time, Stewart was immersed in the best meal he had tasted in a long time. He savored his meal and when he had finished, asked for the bill.

"Don’t worry about it, honey," Angela drawled. "It’s been taken care of."

Smiling that at least one thing had gone right in his day, Stewart left a tip in the tip jar and got back into his car. After driving a few more miles, he began to look for a place to stay. The lights from a nearby hotel seemed to come into view just as Stewart was yawning. He checked in and crashed on the bed.

In the morning, Stewart was awoken by the hotel phone ringing right next to his head. While rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Stewart reached for the phone and said hello. "Mr. Stewart, your breakfast is on the way up to your room."

"But I didn’t ord-," Stewart began to say.

"Oh, don’t worry, breakfast is always complimentary here at the Broom Tree hotel," sang the voice on the other end of the line.

No sooner had he hung up the phone than there was a knock on the door. Stewart opened it to find the room service trolley loaded with breakfast fit for a king. Stewart tipped the steward and sat down to enjoy his meal.

Refreshed and strengthened by his breakfast, Stewart got ready and jumped back into his car. However, unlike last night when he was driving away from everything – toward no particular destination – this time, Stewart knew exactly where he was headed. He turned on his turn signal and began down a route that had been ingrained in his mind since he was a child. He headed home.

As Stewart pulled into the town he grew up in, he drove past all the familiar sights from his childhood. There was the old movie theatre where he and his friends watched classic movies on hot summer afternoons. A faded poster for Charlton Heston in Earthquake was still pasted on the wall and the marquee advertised a bargain matinee of the Towering Inferno.

Before he even arrived at the street to turn onto, Stewart could see his destination in the distance. When his father had built this place, he had selected the tallest of the surrounding hills on which to build it. His dad had said that he wanted to have a good view of everything that was going on. Stewart’s car took the right turn on Covenant Lane almost as though being drawn there automatically.

As Stewart pulled up to the house, his mother came out to greet him. She had a smile on her face as she ushered him into the house. They settled in on the soft, comfortable couches in the den. The couches seemed to mould to Stewart’s tired frame. After settling in, Stewart’s mom said, "I’m so happy to see you, Stewart. What a treat! But, honey, what are you doing here? Isn’t it a work day for you?"

Then, with words tumbling over each other like waves crashing onto a seashore Stewart told her all about what had been going on. He told her about how awful things were at work. He talked about his co-workers who were always trying to get him to mess up at work. He said that if only the boss knew what these other workers, particularly the lower management were really up to then things would be different there – they would have to be.

Stewart talked about how the boss seemed to really appreciate his work and usually followed the business plans that Stewart constructed. But this only succeeded to make his co-workers even angrier with him. "Finally," Stewart concluded, "I just had to get out of there. I just couldn’t take the way I was being treated. So I jumped in my car and came here. I came home to where it all began."

Stewart’s mom listened patiently as he told his story. She nodded in understanding as he told all about his troubles. But when he was done telling his story, she patted him on the knee and told him to rest there for the night. They would talk more in the morning.

Stewart stumbled into his familiar room and lay down on the bed. But there was a sense of electricity in the air. That feeling you get right before a lightening storm rolls in where the hairs on your arms stand up almost as though they are readying themselves to dance. As evening came, the storm hit. The winds howled against that house set high on a hill. Lightening stuck so often you could have almost thought it was daylight. The powerful thunder shook the house’s foundation and rattled the windows in their frames. Stewart even thought he saw fireballs falling from the sky.

The next thing Stewart knew he woke up to the sunlight streaming in through the curtains. The storm had passed and it was the sheer silence of it all that woke him up. Well, that and the smell of bacon frying. Stewart rubbed his eyes and stumbled down to the kitchen. The table was set and the platter was piled high with pancakes and sausages.

"That was some storm last night," Stewart said between bites.

"Oh really, I didn’t notice," replied his mom.

After he had eaten his fill, folded up his napkin, and pushed his chair back from the table, Stewart’s mom asked again, "So why are you here, Stewart?"

"Just like I told you last night…" began Stewart. And he repeated his complaints about his working situation and his complaints about his co-workers and the lower management. And when he had said it all again, his mom smiled back at him and said, "I know it’s bad there and things are tough, but how can you do the work you’re supposed to do, if you aren’t there to do it?"

"But, but…" protested Stewart.

"No buts about it, Stewart. You have to go back. You can’t stay up here forever. And perhaps it isn’t as bad as you think it is. After all, the boss seems to appreciate your work. And I’ll bet that if you look hard enough, you’ll find that there are other people who are working just like you are. In fact, I know of one guy who would be great in your line of work. He’s got another job right now, but I think you could convince him to change professions. Who knows, maybe you could train him to take over after you – kind of like an apprentice. And as for the lower management – I bet you could work to find some new people to fill that position. After all it seems like it’s time for a change there."

So after too short of a visit, Stewart got back in his car, drove back down Covenant Lane, and went back to work. His mother’s words rang in his ear the whole drive back. "How can you do the work you’re supposed to do, if you aren’t there to do it?"

Stewart found the person his mother had suggested as an apprentice. At first he didn’t want to leave his current line of work but soon enough, he followed in Stewart’s footsteps. As Stewart began to open his eyes and look around him he realized that not everyone was following the lower management as he had first thought. There were still some people who were working solely for the boss. There were some changes in the lower management. Some of the managers were better than others.

Stewart had a large poster made that he hung in his office. It was one of those motivational posters with three pictures. The first picture was of Angela’s Diner. The second was from the Broom Tree Hotel. And in the middle was a picture of the road sign at the intersection of Covenant Lane and Assurance Way. In large letters at the bottom it read "God Sustains." In smaller print under this it asked, "How can you do what you’re supposed to do if you’re not there to do it?"

Elijah came to the mountain where God’s covenant had been made with the people. Sustained and protected on the way, Elijah encountered God. And God told Elijah to return on his way. After all, how could he do the work he was supposed to do if he was not where he needed to be to do it? The work was not with God on the mountain but with the people.

How can we do the work God wants us to do if we stay up on the mountains of our life? If we are concentrating so closely on our individual relationships with God we have blinders to the needs of our neighbors. Have you heard it said of someone that they are so heavenly minded that they’re no earthly good?

Elijah went to the mountain, was sustained, and then was sent on his way back to the people. Come to this mountain, this church, and encounter God but remember that our place is not to stay up here. Our place is among God’s people. Along the way, we will be sustained by God.