The Holy Spirit – Day 10

“I have had enough, LORD. Take my life; I am no better …” If we have said these words or know someone who did, we will have some insight into how Elijah felt. To those who have not, discovering that Elijah feels this way despite experiencing the victory on Carmel, and especially after God answered his prayer so powerfully, this will seem astounding. Why should this hero, who had courageously stood up to Ahab, called down fire from heaven, prayed successfully for the rain to break the drought, and had been given supernatural strength to outrun Ahab’s chariot, feel so worthless that he should want to die? No one is immune to negative feelings, despite being successful or achieving great things for God. Depression, disappointment, loneliness and exhaustion often strike after great effort and commitment.

Most of these oppressed Elijah at this point. God had proved Himself to the people through him, and a great victory had been won, but it had not changed the loyalties of the Israelites as significantly as Elijah had hoped, as Jezebel was still a powerful influence of evil. Elijah was bitterly disappointed, and also added fear to his problems when Jezebel vowed to kill him by the following day, after she discovered that Elijah had put her 850 prophets to death. So where does the last true prophet, as he believes, turn for comfort when under such duress? “All at once an angel touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat.’ He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water … The angel came back a second time …” (1 Kings 19:5-7). At his time of need, God not only understood, but showed that He cared tangibly; He recognised Elijah’s exhaustion and hunger and, there in the desert, tenderly supplied his needs. Can you smell the bread?

With replenished strength he travelled to Mount Horeb over 300 kilometres away. There, in a cave, “the word of the LORD came to him: ‘What are you doing here Elijah?’ ” (1 Kings 19:9). What a relief to unburden himself to God and to focus clearly on Him again. Sometimes we lose focus in our zeal for the LORD and take on ourselves what actually belongs to Him. We then need that balance to be restored. God again gives Elijah exactly what he needs: not another powerful task to perform, but instead an awe-inspiring experience of Himself, through which He appears to him in a personal way: “Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave” (1 Kings 19:11-13).

In the gentleness of a whisper, God equipped him for his mission which was not yet over. Astounding!