In our Scripture passage today; Elijah had just gone through a spiritual mountaintop experience. In chapter eighteen of I Kings Elijah had been used by God in a powerful way. God had used Elijah to demonstrate to the people of Israel that the Lord is the only true God and the only one who can hear our prayers. God had shown decisively that Baal, the god the people were serving, was a false god.
In spite of this tremendous recent spiritual mountaintop experience Elijah now found himself in the depths of discouragement, depression, and fear. The wicked queen, Jezebel, was seeking to kill Elijah, and he was fleeing for his life. Elijah had just seen a wonderful demonstration of God's faithfulness and power on Mount Carmel in I Kings chapter eighteen. In chapter eighteen Elijah had also demonstrated great faith and trust in God's power. But now when a new crisis had arisen in his life, Elijah was afraid and discouraged. Elijah was not trusting the Lord to once again lead and protect him. Elijah was looking at the difficult circumstance and looking away from God.
God has also been faithful to us. He has answered so many prayers in our lives and has been with us each step of the way. In spite of this, however, it is easy for us also to become afraid and not trust in the Lord when a new crisis arises in our lives. We need to cling to God's precious promises, and we need to trust that He will always be with us. There is great joy and peace in trusting in the Lord!
Elijah found himself so discouraged and depressed that he asked God to take his life. Elijah felt that his life had been fruitless. Hence, he felt his life was not worth living. He had temporarily lost his confidence in the ultimate triumph of God's Kingdom. We too must remember that God is in control. We must further remember that anything we do in our lives for God's kingdom is worthwhile. This is true even when we do not always understand the workings of God in our lives.
In the midst of Elijah's depression and fatigue an angel touched him and ministered to his needs. Some believe this angel may actually have been a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ! The Lord also give us strength for each new day. The Lord provides for our needs, and He gives us exactly what we need in the moment we need it. We too might become discouraged by our circumstances at times. This happens when we look at our circumstance and fail to focus on the Lord. God is always there to refresh and revive us, however.
In our Biblical narrative Elijah retreated to a cave. In I Kings 19:9b God approached Elijah and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah? God repeated that question in verse thirteen. Groveling in self-pity in a cave was not where God wanted Elijah to be. Elijah was not where he was supposed to be, and he was not in the center of God's will. Elijah was following in his own misguided plan of action instead of God's will for his life. Both times Elijah answered God's question. "What are you doing here, Elijah?" with complaints and lack of submission to God's will. God wants us to trust Him in all of life's circumstances, and He wants us to be submissive to His will in all areas of our lives.
God then spoke to Elijah in a gentle whisper. Elijah had to learn the lesson of being quiet and calm in his spirit, so he would be able to hear the Lord's voice, We too have to be still and listen for God's voice speaking to us. When you and I read a Scripture passage, we are not to rush through the passage. Instead we need to quietly think about what the Holy Spirit is trying to teach us personally in our lives through the Scripture passage. Our hearts and souls need to be tuned to God, so we can hear His voice. Then we must respond in obedience and submission to the Lord's will for our lives!
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