Read 1 Kings 19 (As long as you’ve read 1 Kings 17 & 18 first…You need the context to really grasp the weight and emotion of chapter 19)
Here is the abbreviated summary of the previous chapters: Elijah is a Prophet of the Lord, Ahab is a godless and wayward King of Israel, he is married to the godless and evil woman, Jezebel, who goes down in history as the most evil woman in the Bible. Both King Ahab and Queen Jezebel were committed to serving and worshipping false gods, “He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.” (1 Ki 16:32–33.) Because of their rejection of God, not a drop of rain fell on the land for several years… drought, famine, dire circumstances, jars of oil and flour, intriguing encounters (you’ll have to read for yourself), and ultimately the Word of the Lord led Elijah to confront Ahab and the false God Baal whom they worshipped. It was Elijah and the one true God against the 450 Prophets of Baal, the false god. Elijah (and everyone else) witnessed the power of God displayed as the bull and everything was burned up and the Prophets of Baal seized and slaughtered. Elijah had been faithful and obedient as God led him through a miraculous and triumphant victory.
Yet his flesh still failed him. Turning the page to chapter 19, a simple threat from Jezebel caused Elijah to plummet into an emotional spiral. Depression, anxiety, fear, and loneliness pierced Elijah’s heart. He prayed that he would die, he said he had enough, he felt worthless and insignificant! Even amidst such a great victory? Even after witnessing God do the miraculous? Even after God protected Elijah and fought on his behalf? At first glance, it doesn’t make sense as to why Elijah felt such isolating and depressing emotions. Until we remember, he is a human… Just like you and I. Sometimes, that’s just what life tends to do to us, kick our teeth in even when we have no real reason to feel that way. We witness God do something spectacular in our parenting or miraculous in our marriage, but we often don’t grasp or soak in the beauty of it. The unrelenting reality of life adds another straw to the camel’s back that all of a sudden feels like too much. Just like Jezebel’s threat was for Elijah. That small thing brought him to a breaking point, even after such victory.
But the beautiful thing is this: God doesn’t leave us alone in our loneliness. He didn’t let Elijah sit and sulk, but he went after him! The Lord told Elijah to stand on the mountain since the Lord was about to pass by… After this a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered rocks, but the Lord wasn’t in the wind. An earthquake and a fire followed the windstorm, but the Lord wasn’t in either of those… it was the gentle whisper and the still small voice of God. Not only does God display himself and respond to us in loud, powerful, visible, and miraculous ways, but just as much in the quietness of a humbled heart that is listening for God.
So, it with us in our lives, in our families, and in the circumstances, we might be facing. Maybe you have witnessed God loudly rescue your marriage that was on the brink of failure, maybe you’ve watched God bring a wandering and prodigal child back, or maybe you’ve had a significant potty-training success or a behavioral breakthrough in the early years of parenting…
Perhaps, you have experienced some of those things, but you’re stuck in a rut, nonetheless. What seemed like a simple straw, has now broken the camel's back. A single sleepless night has caused your head to spiral, your child did or said something at school that got them in trouble and now you’re beating yourself up over poor parenting, your spouse did something small that set you off, an expectation wasn’t met, and now here you are, lonely, afraid, depressed, wondering how you can press on in this weary journey… tune your ear toward the gentle whisper, humble your heart and listen to the one that will bring stillness to your soul, remember that God cares and can redeem the little things just as much as he does the big things. Remember what he has brought you through, to have hope in the midst of what he has brought you to. We will all face trouble even after we have experienced triumph, so be still and know that God speaks and helps in all of what we have gone through or are currently going through. Big and small.
Here is the abbreviated summary of the previous chapters: Elijah is a Prophet of the Lord, Ahab is a godless and wayward King of Israel, he is married to the godless and evil woman, Jezebel, who goes down in history as the most evil woman in the Bible. Both King Ahab and Queen Jezebel were committed to serving and worshipping false gods, “He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.” (1 Ki 16:32–33.) Because of their rejection of God, not a drop of rain fell on the land for several years… drought, famine, dire circumstances, jars of oil and flour, intriguing encounters (you’ll have to read for yourself), and ultimately the Word of the Lord led Elijah to confront Ahab and the false God Baal whom they worshipped. It was Elijah and the one true God against the 450 Prophets of Baal, the false god. Elijah (and everyone else) witnessed the power of God displayed as the bull and everything was burned up and the Prophets of Baal seized and slaughtered. Elijah had been faithful and obedient as God led him through a miraculous and triumphant victory.
Yet his flesh still failed him. Turning the page to chapter 19, a simple threat from Jezebel caused Elijah to plummet into an emotional spiral. Depression, anxiety, fear, and loneliness pierced Elijah’s heart. He prayed that he would die, he said he had enough, he felt worthless and insignificant! Even amidst such a great victory? Even after witnessing God do the miraculous? Even after God protected Elijah and fought on his behalf? At first glance, it doesn’t make sense as to why Elijah felt such isolating and depressing emotions. Until we remember, he is a human… Just like you and I. Sometimes, that’s just what life tends to do to us, kick our teeth in even when we have no real reason to feel that way. We witness God do something spectacular in our parenting or miraculous in our marriage, but we often don’t grasp or soak in the beauty of it. The unrelenting reality of life adds another straw to the camel’s back that all of a sudden feels like too much. Just like Jezebel’s threat was for Elijah. That small thing brought him to a breaking point, even after such victory.
But the beautiful thing is this: God doesn’t leave us alone in our loneliness. He didn’t let Elijah sit and sulk, but he went after him! The Lord told Elijah to stand on the mountain since the Lord was about to pass by… After this a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered rocks, but the Lord wasn’t in the wind. An earthquake and a fire followed the windstorm, but the Lord wasn’t in either of those… it was the gentle whisper and the still small voice of God. Not only does God display himself and respond to us in loud, powerful, visible, and miraculous ways, but just as much in the quietness of a humbled heart that is listening for God.
So, it with us in our lives, in our families, and in the circumstances, we might be facing. Maybe you have witnessed God loudly rescue your marriage that was on the brink of failure, maybe you’ve watched God bring a wandering and prodigal child back, or maybe you’ve had a significant potty-training success or a behavioral breakthrough in the early years of parenting…
Perhaps, you have experienced some of those things, but you’re stuck in a rut, nonetheless. What seemed like a simple straw, has now broken the camel's back. A single sleepless night has caused your head to spiral, your child did or said something at school that got them in trouble and now you’re beating yourself up over poor parenting, your spouse did something small that set you off, an expectation wasn’t met, and now here you are, lonely, afraid, depressed, wondering how you can press on in this weary journey… tune your ear toward the gentle whisper, humble your heart and listen to the one that will bring stillness to your soul, remember that God cares and can redeem the little things just as much as he does the big things. Remember what he has brought you through, to have hope in the midst of what he has brought you to. We will all face trouble even after we have experienced triumph, so be still and know that God speaks and helps in all of what we have gone through or are currently going through. Big and small.