1 Kings 19: 1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow." 3 Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors." 5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, "Get up and eat." 6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, "Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you." 8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. 9 At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 10 He answered, "I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away." 11 He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 14 He answered, "I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away."15 Then the Lord said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus;
"The more you do for God, the more the Devil wants you back." My Mom used to tell me that, and I've heard it in several ways since then, but it comes to mean that every victory you claim for God may come with a reaction from those who oppose God and the things of God. Such was the case with Elijah, the great prophet of God. He had had a show-down with 400 priests of Baal at Mount Carmel and handily defeated them. He showed to those gathered there that there are no other gods, just one, ours. This angered both the king and queen, who were no fans of God. You may have heard of them, King Ahab, and Queen Jezebel. She may be more infamous because of her temper and reactions to God's things. It was her words that said to Elijah you'll be dead by tomorrow. Not a good word to hear from your queen. Elijah did what many of us would do, he fled.
He wanders into the wilderness to seek God. God had blessed his life and had always provided for him, but this last threat was a breaking point in his life. Elijah felt he could do no more and asks God to take his life. A man I once knew would come to a point in his work day when he would announce, "I have ceased to be productive!" and he would go home. Elijah felt that way but in a deeper sense wanted to go home to God. He finds a place of shade under a "solitary broom tree" where he lays down and sleeps. A tapping from an angel awakens him and he is told to "Get up and eat." He finds that this heavenly messenger has baked a cake of bread and brought a jar of water. He ate this meal and then lay down again. A second time, awakened by the angel, he is told again, "Get up and eat." (This is beginning to sound like a Methodist story; pot luck or covered dish?). But this second feeding comes with a warning, "Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you."
Elijah wanted to die, and God feeds him. Elijah wanted no more on the road of service with God, and God prepares him for a longer journey. It was a journey of 40 days and nights of fasting and prayer. He comes to Mount Horeb and in a cave there spends this fortieth night. God visits and asks what he is doing there. Elijah answers again with despair, "I have been trying to serve you, but I have found too much opposition to what I am trying to do. People don't respect Your Word, they have destroyed places of worship, they have killed your prophets; I'm the last one left and even now they are looking for me to kill me."
Even in despair, God is there. Even in the glum face of defeat God provides a sliver of hope that all will be well, we have to but wait and trust God. And sometimes that seems like the hardest thing. In the rest of this story, God tells Elijah to stand on the mountain for God was to pass. A great wind comes with the strength to break rocks in pieces, yet God was not in the wind. There comes an earthquake after the wind, but God was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake comes a fire, but God was not in the fire. After the fire, sheer silence. Elijah wrapped his head and stood at the entrance of the cave. Again, the question comes from God, "What are you doing, Elijah?" Elijah again shares the same response, and God tells him to continue his work.
Even in despair, God is there. Even when we think our faithfulness and our discipleship is doing nothing good, God may surprise us and show us that God is still in control and working. Our efforts may seem in vain, but it may be years later that we hear that what we have shared or said have found a home and the blossom of that seed planted will result in yet another victory for God. If you read the rest of the story, God blesses Elijah in ways he did not expect, and the final blessing is one that amazes us even today. (You'll have to read the rest of the story!)
Even if you find yourself unappreciated or swimming upstream in your daily walk with Christ, God is with you and the greatest victories may have not yet come your way, but still you remain faithful. Even in despair, God is there.
PRAYER: Loving God, may this message speak to the hearts of those who need it. Many have been the days when we have sought You and thought we were alone and abandoned, but Your Word proves otherwise and may this passage serve to strengthen us in our faithfulness to You. Bless this dear reader and his/her needs, and if this gets forwarded to someone else, may that other reader also receive that which You have prepared for them. This we pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
