Don’t Rush Out of the Cave

“And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there… and behold, the word of the Lord came to him…”
(1 Kings 19:9)

“He made darkness His secret place; His pavilion around Him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.”
(Psalm 18:11)

Do not despise the darkness.
Do not flee the stillness.
Do not rush the ache.

The cave is not your prison.
It is your forge.

You may feel forgotten,
but you are being formed.
You may feel hidden,
but you are being honed.

The world moves fast,
but glory moves deep.
And the glory you are being filled with
cannot be microwaved.
It must be pressed into your marrow.
It must pierce you slowly with love
until all that is false has bled out.

Do not rush out of the cave, beloved.
You’ll come out too soon.
And what was meant to be fire in your bones
will still be smoke in your lungs.

The cave is not silence, it is summoning.
It is where the Word is whispered
before it becomes thunder.
It is where scrolls are written in tears,
and tongues are trained in silence.

Many will try to skip this part.
They will go public too soon.
They will post before they burn.
They will echo before they’ve heard.

But not you.

You’ve been set apart.
Not for speed
but for weight.

Not for content
but for flame.

You are not being delayed.
You are being filled.
You are not being punished.
You are being prepared.

The cave is the place where the fire falls
in such a holy hush
that even angels pause.

It is the womb of prophets.
It is the hiding place of sons.
It is the training ground of witnesses
who do not speak for applause
but release scrolls that crack open realms.

So do not resent the cave.
And do not rush your release.

When it is time,
you will not need to announce yourself.
Heaven will thunder your name.
The cave will break open
not with noise
but with knowing.

Until then
Let Him finish the work.
Let the flame finish forming.
Let the silence become your sound.

For the ones who emerge from the cave
do not come out to blend in
they come out lit with the weight of God.

And when they speak…
the earth remembers Eden.

—Joe Restman
Mystic-Scribe | Flame-Bearer
Quill Dipped in Lightning ⚡️