When It Seems That God Is Not Doing Anything, What Are We to Do?
1 Kings 19:1-18
This is a story about one of two men that did not die. Enoch walked with God and was taken so that he did not see death and Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. In the preceding chapter, Elijah has a contest with the evil prophets of Jezebel, the wife of Ahab and one of the evilest women in the Bible.
In verses 1-4:
Jezebel was totally ticked off with regards to the death of her prophets since they had told her about all that she wanted to hear, forecasting her future power and greatness. Their occupation was to exalt the royal couple and assist with sustaining their realm. Jezebel was so furious in light of the fact that her malevolent prophets had been killed and her pride and authority had been harmed. The wealth that she had put toward resources into these prophets was currently lost.
Elijah, who had caused the passing’s of the prophets, was a steady persistent issue for Jezebel since he was continually foreseeing pessimism. Since she was unable to control his activities, she pledged to kill him. However long God's prophet was around, she was unable to do all the dreadful things that she wanted to do.
Elijah encountered the profundities of exhaustion and demoralization soon after his two incredible spiritual triumphs. The loss of the prophets of Baal and the addressed petition for rain had as of late happened. Regularly debilitation sets in after extraordinary spiritual encounters, particularly those requiring actual exertion or creating personal energy. To lead him out of the downturn, God initially let Elijah rest and eat. Then, at that point, God told him of his need to get back to his central goal, and that was to express God's Word in Israel. Elijah's fights were not finished. There was still work for him to do. When we get to the point to where we feel let down after an extraordinary spiritual encounter, we ought to recollect that God's motivation in our lives is not finished yet.
Elijah flees for his life. By this point, he is not heroic nor courageous. His attitude is called the “I quits, I give up.” How many of us have felt this way and cry out, “What is the use?” Why does Elijah feel this way? He expected a different reaction from Jezebel and Ahab. Maybe Elijah expected God to act in a certain way, his faith was based upon his knowledge of God, not on God Himself. We see the fear of Elijah, which is evident in the flight of Elijah, fear gripped his heart, and so he fled.
Elijah was overworked, overwrought, and over-worried. When we expect God to act in a certain way, but when he does not, our faith hits the bottom. . . “Oh woe is me.” A Christian is to be completely fearless, continually cheerful, and constantly in trouble. Next, we see Elijah become despondent, he wants to die, yet he runs away because he is afraid to die. (Job 3:20-21; Jeremiah 20:14)
We can become illogical when we turn from faith to fear. Self-pity sets in. Elijah says, “It is enough.” Basically, he is tired of the whole situation and maybe he is thinking “I have done my part, I cannot take anymore.” Self-pity is the result of having fallen from faith to self-trust and then self-trust results in self-pity.
• 1 Corinthians 10:13, There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
In verses 5-8:
At the point when Elijah escaped to Mount Horeb, he was getting back to the consecrated spot where God met Moses and gave his laws to humanity. Clearly God invigorated Elijah with exceptional abilities to travel this significant stretch, north of two hundred miles, without extra food. Like Moses before him and Jesus after him, Elijah abstained from food for 40 days and nights (Deuteronomy 9:9; Matthew 4:1-2). Hundreds of years later, Moses, Elijah, and Jesus would get together on a mountain ridge (Luke 9: 28-36).
God takes care of the physical as well as the spiritual. Elijah needed rest and resuscitation, then he was strengthened for the next part of his journey. (Exodus 24:18, Exodus 34:28) I believe that there is something about fasting and prayer that is important. If we are physically able to fast for a period of time and seek God in prayer, we should all try to accomplish this at some point of our lives. It can work in our favor not only for our spiritual wellness, but our physical as well.
In verses 9-10:
Elijah is sitting in a cave and then the Lord wants to know what he is doing there. Elijah proceeds to tell the Lord what all the Israelites have or have not done. Elijah imagined that he was only individual remaining who was still consistent with God. He had seen both the royal court and the priesthood become bad. Subsequent to encountering extraordinary triumph at Mount Carmel, he needed to run for his life. Forlorn and deterred, he failed to remember that others had stayed steadfast amidst the country's insidiousness.
There are times that we get like that. Sometimes we may question if we are in the place that we are supposed to be in or not. “Am I where I should be and doing what I should be doing?” When we get to a point when we are enticed to feel that we are the only person devoted to an assignment, we are not to pause and feel frustrated about ourselves. Self-centeredness will weaken the decency that we are doing. We are to be guaranteed that regardless of whether we know what their identity is, others dependably comply with God and are satisfying their obligations.
• Romans 12:2, And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
In verses 11-13:
Elijah is sent to the mountain. Normally when we are up on the mountain things just seem better. But for some reason, the wind blew, an earthquake came, and there was a fire. Elijah does not seem to be afraid. But then a still small voice comes to him. Elijah realized that the still little voice was God's. He understood that God does not uncover himself just in strong, extraordinary ways.
To search for God just in something significant (rallies, houses of worship, meetings, in high apparent church leaders) might be to miss him since he is frequently seen as delicately murmuring in the quietness of a lowered heart. Is it true or not that we are genuinely listening for God? We should move away from the commotion and action of our bustling lives and listen unassumingly and discreetly for his direction. It might come when we are not expecting it.
In verses 14-18:
God told Elijah to bless three unique individuals. The first one was Hazael, as king of Syria. Elijah was told to bless an adversary since God planned to involve Syria as his instrument to punish Israel for its wrongdoing. Syria brought Israel's outer discipline.
The following man Elijah was to bless as king of Israel was Jehu. Israel's inner discipline would come from Jehu, who would obliterate the people who had worshipped the bogus god Baal (2 Kings 9, 10).
The third individual Elijah was told to bless was Elisha, the prophet who would succeed him. Elisha's occupation was to work in Israel, the Northern Kingdom, and assist with pointing the people back to God. The Southern Kingdom right now was governed by Jehoshaphat, a ruler who was committed to God.
The Lesson:
It may be that when God does nothing, wonderful things are happening that we do not see. God’s program may not involve activity. A change of attitude is often key to a transformed life. God uses insignificant things to open mighty ones. When we feel depressed after a spiritual victory, we need to remember that God’s purpose for us may not be over. Do not let ourselves be tempted to feel sorry for ourselves. Self-pity dilutes the good things that we are doing. Shut out the noise of the world and listen humbly and quietly. When we come to a place where things seem to be going badly and nothing is happening, we should stop looking at the situation and look to the Savior.
