If you’ve read the story of Elijah (here), you know he was a pretty awesome prophet. I mean this guy raised a kid from the dead and gave him back to his mother (I like that part), stood up against 450 bullies at once and won! Called down fire from heaven and God sent it. Ask for a three-year drought and God gave it. And he didn’t die. (I like that even better!) He was taken into heaven in a whirlwind.
Angels met him when he was weary and fed him food from heaven and God spoke to him in a whisper, just to encourage him, and then sent a friend to come alongside to help him.
His life sounds pretty amazing, doesn’t it? And yet, Elijah was still human. He might have been a great man of faith, who could stand up to evil people (the king and queen), but at one point in his life, right after a stunning victory over those 450 bullies (false prophets), he ran for his life from evil Queen Jezebel. (You’ve probably heard about her. Not a nice person.)
The thing is? Elijah felt alone. He’d been standing up for God against the evil of his day for years, trying to talk some sense into King Ahab, but mostly he wanted the people to wake up and realize that the God of Israel (he was speaking to Israel) was their God. Not some piece of wood or stone named Baal.
So he challenged the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”
Then Elijah set out to prove which God was greater. Which God was true.
And he came out proving his point. The people changed their thinking and returned to the Lord and everything was going right in Elijah’s life at that point. Until one woman threatened him.
Now maybe Elijah was just worn out. Maybe it’s because after a great victory there is often a great trial. Count on this. When things are going well and we’re walking with God and our lives are making a difference, doing the work God created us to do–that’s when we’re going to hit some of the toughest trials of our lives. When we’re on the mountain, it’s a long way down and so easy to fall.
And Elijah feared. Fear replaced his faith and he ran for his life. Nothing to eat or drink. He just ran. I don’t know how many days it took him, but he ran from northern Israel to just outside of the wilderness of Judah. He left his servant and went even further into the wilderness. No indication that he intended to return.
Why? He wanted to die.
Have you been there? Have you ever become so discouraged that death seems better than life? I think if we are truly honest, most of us have wondered if it’s worth it. Why not just quit trying? Why keep believing, keep hoping, when circumstances just hit us too hard. Elijah’s journey was just too much for him. And sometimes we feel the same way.
So Elijah lay down under a broom tree and slept, hoping he would never wake up. And don’t you know that God knew exactly how he felt?
Sometimes we think God expects us to always be on top of the world, never get discouraged, always have that perfect testimony, never have that defeated feeling. But God isn’t like that at all. He knows we are made of dust – after all, He’s the one who made us! And while our spirits can have great strength of character and the faith to call down fire or pray for rain and it happens, that doesn’t mean we will always win. Or always feel like getting up and trying again. Even after a great victory. Especially after a great victory.
God saw all of this. He knew Elijah’s thoughts. And his needs. So he sent an angel to feed him, then let him sleep some more. And at last He listened to Elijah’s complaints and He answered. Don’t you wish God would answer you right away when you prayed? Sometimes I wish we could put Jesus’ number in our contacts and hear His voice at the other end of speed dial.
But we can hear Him speak through His Word. Through a whisper, as He did with Elijah. Through a friend. Through His Spirit living within us who reminds us that He loves us. He’s provided for us. He made us. He forgives. His grace is greater than anything we might have done that causes us to feel distant and alone. Because no matter what we think, we are not alone.
Elijah thought he was the only one left in Israel who believed in God, who had remained true to Him and had not bowed the knee to Baal. But God had 7000 people who were faithful to His Name. Elijah just didn’t know it.
And don’t we tend to see our circumstances through our own lens? We think that no one else has ever faced our trials the way we are facing them. And maybe they haven’t. Trials can be uniquely ours. Yet the truth is, there will be someone out there facing something similar or worse, reminding us that the human struggle is not unique. The walk of faith is not an easy road.
And there will be days when we wish we could crawl under our own broom tree and not face another day.
Fear will try to steal our faith. Trust will tell us that God is working even though we can’t see it. Fear will make us run away. Trust will give us strength to face the giant or the 450 enemies of God.
Fear will try to destroy what we know is true and chain us with lies.
Trust in Jesus (Yeshua) will set you free.
Fear put Elijah under that broom tree. God called him out and whispered grace to his hurting heart, gave him another assignment, and brought a friend alongside to help him in the journey. He will do the same for us if we cry out to Him in our need. Let Him remind us how to trust again. And then go and do what He has given us to do until He comes.
~Selah
#livegrace #chooselife #fireandrain #trustnotfear
