What are you doing here Elijah?

Even when we are doing great exploits for the Lord, or just trying to live to serve Him in the quietness of our own lives and families, we can be slayed by the smallest thing……

Source: The Waters Church

When James, in his letter to the Jewish believers who had been scattered abroad, wrote about prayer, he referred to Elijah; James 5:16-18 (NKJV) ‘The effective prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.  And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain’. James recognised that Elijah was a man who walked closely with God and did amazing exploits for God, but at the same time was also governed by his human nature. His walk with the Lord is full of miracles, including declaring that the land would have no rain again until he said, and it didn’t, he challenged the King, he was fed by ravens, he raised a dead child to life, and who can forget the awesome image of the fire of God falling on Mount Carmel and consuming a water sodden offering?

You would think that nothing could effect this mighty man of God and yet it is only a short while after the ‘Mount Carmel incident’ that we find him afraid and on the run because of the threats of a woman! 1 Kings 19:3-4 ‘Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. ‘He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the wilderness travelling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. I have had enough Lord he said take my life for I am no better than by ancestors who have already died’. This is such a vivid picture of Elijah, in the wilderness, alone and struggling to make sense of all that had happened. Driven by his fear and his human nature he asks the Lord to take his life as he was no better than all the people that had gone before and let the Lord down. He wanted to be different, he wanted to be faithful, he wanted to be dependable, and he had put himself ‘out there for the Lord’ but had been defeated by fear. His human nature had taken over, as human nature does.

Even when we are doing great exploits for the Lord, or just trying to live to serve Him in the quietness of our own lives and families, we can be slayed by the smallest thing, a single thought or a harsh word a disappointment or sometimes even confusion over what is happening in our lives or the lives of others. In a moment we can forget all the Lord has done, all the miracles we have seen and experienced, all the assurance we have ever received and all we can think about is the current issue. We take our eyes off the Lord and in a moment we can be filled with fear and find ourselves on the run, sometimes physically by trying to take ourselves somewhere else or spiritually by running away from the Lord, not praying, sometimes not going to church and putting down our bibles and turning to other things. Pretty soon we can find ourselves sitting in a wilderness under a solitary tree feeling totally defeated and that we are a failure.

Source: PInterest

We have so much to learn about the Lord from the account of Elijah. Firstly, as Elijah was at his lowest point and as he slept, an angel came and made him a meal, woke him up and told him to eat. Then Elijah went back to sleep. The angel woke him up again and told him to; ‘eat some more or the journey ahead will be too much for you’ (1 Kings 19:7). The Lord knows that when we become distracted or filled with fear there is a tendency for us to sleep, shut down, either physically or spiritually, but the Lord also knows that it is at this very point that we actually need to feed. We need to read His Word more, we need to actually get before Him and pray and we definitely need the encouragement of being with other believers, to worship with them and to allow them to encourage us. The Bible tells us that in the strength of this food Elijah travelled 40 days and 40 nights until he came to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God, the place where the Lord was going to both challenge him, meet him and direct him. As Elijah spent the night in a cave the Lord asked an incredibly searching question; 1 Kings 19:13 ‘what are you doing here Elijah?’ Again, Elijah showed his human nature by blaming other people for his fear and for his situation of being on the run.

Our human nature so likes to blame other people; ‘they did this’, ‘they are saying that’, ‘I`m trying my best but look at what they are doing’. I can think of many times in my life when I have done this and I know that I will probably do it again in the future because it is our human nature to blame others, after all it started with Adam blaming Eve and Eve blaming the serpent. It's embedded in us, however God has a different way for us. He didn’t answer Elijah`s arguments or give an explanation, instead He told Elijah; ‘to go outside and stand on the mountain’. It was there on the mountain of the Lord that God revealed His strength and awesome power in the form of a windstorm, earthquake and fire, but in none of these terrifying events did the Lord reveal the essence of His Presence. It was in a still small voice, a gentle whisper, it was this gentle whisper that enticed Elijah from the protection of the cave to stand before the Lord. And what did the Lord whisper to Elijah… ‘What are you doing here Elijah?’ to which Elijah replied with the same reason as before. I think this part of the account displays the Lord's amazing grace to us, His people. He had just demonstrated the extent of His Power to control all things to Elijah, but Elijah was still holding on to his grievances, his fears and his reasons. Instead of God saying to him ‘well if you feel like that after all I have revealed to you, then get on with it you are of no use to me like this’, instead He said a strange thing to him; 1 Kings 19:15 ‘go back the same way you came’.

So often when things go wrong we want to run away and we expect the Lord to change everything. We do not want to face our fears because that feels the most comfortable thing to do, however, there is no victory in that. God knows this so He often sends us back to where we are running from to fulfill the purpose He has for us there. He did it with Jonah and He did it here with Elijah. The Lord also gave Elijah instructions of what to do next and assurance that he was not alone. God knew that on the journey back Elijah would have time to reflect on all the Lord had shown him and he would be in a better place to fulfill all the Lord wanted him to do including anointing the next prophet of Israel.

I am so encouraged and grateful for this account in God’s Word and James`s reflection that Elijah was a man with a nature just like ours and the fact that God was able to really use him. I find that so encouraging in the times when I feel the worst about myself. If I can take the time and put myself in the place where I can hear God’s still small voice, His gentle whisper then I can be encouraged to know that His Grace will lift me up, set me on the right path and allow me to be and do what he wants me to be and to do.

May God bless you.

Author: Jan Pearson

May God bless and enrich your life

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