Word of Encouragement (05/28/2024)

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” (1 Kings 19:4)

Elijah came out of a great victory over the prophets of Baal. They spent a whole day chanting, dancing, and cutting themselves in their petition to Baal to show that he was real by sending down a fire to consume the sacrifice. There was nothing but silence. But God demonstrated His existence and power by sending a fire from heaven and consuming the sacrifice and altar drenched with water. The Israelites were struck with awe at the display of God’s power. In awe, they listened to Elijah’s command to slaughter the prophets of Baal. Then, how did Elijah come to pray this desperate and dejected prayer?

Elijah’s expectation was not merely the removal of the prophets of Baal. He ended his prayer with these words: “Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back” (18:37). Getting rid of the pagan prophets were just a means to a greater end: Israel’s repentance. But there was no repentance. At the spur of the moment, they carried out Elijah’s command to execute the false prophets. But even after the futility and falsehood of Baalism were shown, even after the undeniable demonstration of the reality of YHWH, the Israelites were not willing to turn away from their idolatry. That is how blinding idolatry is and how deep the fallen man’s sinful nature is.

Not only that, the evil, pagan queen, Jezebel, vowed to kill him (19:2). This made him afraid, which made him run for his life (19:3). Oh, how quickly Elijah fell from the heights of victory to the depths of fear! The Elijah of Ch. 19 is not the Elijah of Ch. 18. In a matter of a few verses, the triumphant Elijah of Ch. 18 became unrecognizable in Ch. 19. Where was the Elijah, who faced 450 prophets of Baal all alone without a tinge of fear? At the threat of a woman, granted that she was queen, he lost all courage and ran for his life as if God, who gave him victory over the Baal prophets in the battle of Mount Carmel, could not protect him from this pagan queen. What happened to him?

Disappointment happened to him. What he expected—a revival in Israel—did not happen. This disappointment made a crack in his confident trust in the Lord. And all kinds of doubt and fear seeped into his heart through the crack. But wherefore this disappointment? Did God promise a revival in Israel and fail to bring it about? No. Elijah assumed it. Oh, how dangerous our assumptions are! It is easy to mistake our assumptions with God’s will. When we do this, we set ourselves up for unnecessary disappointments, which can be dangerous (as we see in Elijah’s case). Are you upset with God because He failed to keep His promise or because He did not do what you wanted Him to do or thought He would do for you? Don’t let your assumptions turn you away from your faithful God and Father. If you can’t trust God, who even sacrificed His own Son for our salvation, what/whom can you trust? If we can’t trust God, we have all the reasons to be cowards like Elijah.

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