Down through the ages, Elijah has been called the prophet of power. His name is synonymous with strength. But in this verse, this iron man of the Old Testament was filled with fear and discouragement, so much so that he wanted to die. Elijah had 3 revealing symptoms. He was suffering from exhaustion, due to a lack of proper rest; introspection, from looking too closely at himself; and an exaggeration of his problems, which introspection naturally leads to. Centuries later the apostle Paul wrote of his own encounter with despair:<\/p>\n
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. (2 Cor. 1:8)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Why did these 2 great men of God find themselves in the depths of despair? Perhaps they hadn’t seen the results they expected or wanted to see, or maybe they never thought times would get as hard as they did.<\/p>\n
We can fall into the same state of mind if our expectations get too far above our practical experience. There are many like Paul and Elijah, who have been discouraged in their service for God and often for the same reasons: exhaustion, introspection of faults, and an exaggeration of problems. We find God’s solution in Psalm 46. The entire Psalm speaks of disturbing times: pounding seas, crumbling mountains, and violent kingdoms. However, at the close of the Psalm, we hear God’s perspective: “Be still and know that I am God” (46:10). He tells us that in the worst of times, we must stop hurrying and worrying and be quiet and silent before Him. When we lay it all down at the foot of the cross, the temporal, with all its accompanying drama, suddenly comes into focus in the light of the eternal. God Himself absorbs the chaos and gives back calm and hope.<\/p>\n
\u201cLORD, we ask for Your peace that passes understanding to rule in our hearts and minds today.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n
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1 Kings 19 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1<\/sup>\u00a0And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do\u00a0to me\u00a0<\/em>, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0And when he saw\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which\u00a0belongeth\u00a0<\/em>to Judah, and left his servant there. 4<\/sup> But he himself went a day\u2019s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O\u00a0LORD, take away my life; for I\u00a0am\u00a0<\/em>not better than my fathers.\u00a0\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>eat.\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0And he looked, and, behold,\u00a0there was\u00a0<\/em>a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0And the angel of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>eat; because the journey\u00a0is<\/em>too great for thee.\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. 9<\/sup>\u00a0And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came\u00a0<\/em>to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0And he said, I have been very jealous for the\u00a0LORD\u00a0God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.\u00a011<\/sup>And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the\u00a0LORD. And, behold, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the\u00a0LORD;\u00a0but\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0LORD\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake;\u00a0but\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0LORD\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>not in the earthquake:\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0And after the earthquake a fire;\u00a0but\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0LORD\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0And it was\u00a0so\u00a0<\/em>, when Elijah heard\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold,\u00a0there came\u00a0<\/em>a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0And he said, I have been very jealous for the\u00a0LORD\u00a0God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.\u00a015<\/sup>And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael\u00a0to be\u00a0<\/em>king over Syria:\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint\u00a0to be\u00a0<\/em>king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint\u00a0to be\u00a0<\/em>prophet in thy room.\u00a0\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0And it shall come to pass,\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0Yet I have left\u00a0me\u00a0<\/em>seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.\u00a019<\/sup> So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>plowing\u00a0with\u00a0<\/em>twelve yoke\u00a0of oxen\u00a0<\/em>before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and\u00a0then\u00a0<\/em>I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?\u00a0\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Down through the ages, Elijah has been called the prophet of power. His name is synonymous with strength. But in this verse, this iron man of the Old Testament was filled with fear and discouragement, so much so that he wanted to die. Elijah had 3 revealing symptoms. He was suffering from exhaustion, due to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6788"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16260,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788\/revisions\/16260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}