Everybody Gets Knocked Down!
1 Kings 19:1-4 CSB – Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘May the gods punish me and do so severely if I don’t make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow!’ Then Elijah became afraid and immediately ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba that belonged to Judah, he left his servant there, but he went on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. He said, ‘I have had enough! Lord, take my life, for I’m no better than my fathers.’
Personalities
The Law of Gravity
1 Kings 18:26-29 CSB – So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, ‘Baal, answer us!’ But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they danced around the altar they had made. At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, ‘Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!’ They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them. All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention.
1 Kings 18:37-39 CSB – ‘Answer me, Lord! Answer me, so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back.’ Then the Lord’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell facedown and said, ‘The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!’
1 Kings 19:41 CSB – ‘Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a rainstorm.’
Responsibilities
1 Kings 19:4 CSB – ‘I have had enough! Lord, take my life, for I’m no better than my fathers.’
Unmet Expectations
Proverbs 13:12 CSB – Hope delayed makes the heart sick.
Worn Out
Rest
1 Kings 19:5, 6 CSB – Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. Suddenly, an angel touched him. The angel told him, ‘Get up and eat.’ Then he looked, and there at his head was a loaf of bread baked over hot stones, and a jug of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.
Mark 6:31 CSB – He said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.’ For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.
Exodus 20:8-10 CSB – Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.
“We actually get stupider when we work too much.” – Executive Coach Tasha Eurich, Ph.D.
Fresh Experience of God
1 Kings 19:9-13 CSB – Suddenly, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He replied, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Armies, but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life.’ Then He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord’s presence.’ At that moment, the Lord passed by. A great and might wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs 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 there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
Galatians 6:9 CSB – Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.
New Vision
1 Kings 19:13-18 CSB – Suddenly, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Armies,” he replied, “but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they’re looking for me to take my life. Then the Lord said to him, “Go and return by the way you came to the Wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, you are to anoint Hazael as king over Aram. You are to anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu. But I will leave seven thousand in Israel —every knee that has not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
Ephesians 2:10 CSB – For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10 CSB – Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to life him up.
