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Somewhat out of nowhere, Elijah appears on the scene at the court of King Ahab of Israel and promises a drought until he says it will stop. It’s not clear whether King Ahab believes him or not, and yet the next thing we know, Elijah is whisked off to the Brook Cherith to be fed by ravens.
As if this wasn’t enough, Elijah was then taken to a widow and her son. He promises them food that will never run out until the drought does. And he raises the son from the dead.
After some time he returns to fight the prophets of Baal on Mount Caramel, and here’s where things really start to get interesting. He challenges the prophets to see who is the real god—Baal or Yaweh, and the test is a test of bringing fire down from the heavens to light a sacrifice.
When the prophets of Baal cannot accomplish the feat, Elijah ups the ante by having water poured all over the sacrifice before praying and seeing fire come down.
After this, as a light encore, he calls for rain, and it comes.
He Saw So Much
So, you’d think that this guy that has seen God do some pretty great things would be confident in God, wouldn’t you?
Nope, he hears that Queen Jezebel (King Ahab’s wife) is out to kill him, so he flees for his life. He leaves his servant in Beer-sheba, and journeys on alone—going almost a day further. When he gets to a place where he’s alone, he sits down and asks the Lord if he can die. This is really hard for me to think through! He goes from getting food from ravens to being scared of the queen!
God calls him further- after giving him food to eat via an angel. And after Elijah tells God that he feels alone.
Isn’t that the case with us? We do something great for God, we are out in front leading, and then we look around and wonder—how am I doing this? Where’s everyone else?
Elijah wasn’t alone: Obadiah and 100 prophets were still alive. (I Kings 18:12-13) God told Elijah there were 7,000 that had not bowed the knee (I Kings 19:18). That’s hardly alone—and God has people where you work, in your community, and all around you accomplishing His mission. We’re not alone, no matter how much we feel like it.
Request Granted
God grants his request to leave the Earth, in a roundabout way (I Kings 19:15 & 16), and I think this was God’s way of showing Elijah who was in charge. We’re not done until God is done with us.
Even though Elijah had a special relationship with God and God spoke to Elijah, Elijah could not tell God when he was done. In fact, I find it kind of amusing that Elijah asks to leave this Earth—and he probably thought death—but God didn’t let this mighty prophet die. Instead, Elijah became one of two people that never tasted death!
God took Elijah to Mount Horeb and gave him an assignment, and then he brought Elijah home.
We are Not Done Until He is done with us.
Isn’t it neat to know that God is in control, and that we’re not done until He is done with us? Nothing can stop God’s power to accomplish His purposes in His way.
