YOU'RE NOT DONE TILL YOU'RE DONE. 1st Kings 19 Life is composed of ups and downs depending on our circumstances and the lessons God wants to teach us. Sometimes, open and dramatic events stand out as most important to us, but the obscure, private, and mundane daily living experiences are the basic building blocks in a life of faith. In God’s timing, Mt. Carmel experiences may happen a few times in our lives that make reading in our book of deeds done exciting. They give us stories to impress our grandchildren, but that is not what most of our lives consist of.
However, the years of living by faith as “the brook dries up” or in a home life that is lived frugally “one day at a time” demonstrate who we are in God’s eyes. The dramatic things are what God does through us in people's eyes, so we must focus their attention and glory on God, not ourselves.
Elijah built the altar stone by stone and laid wood on it piece by piece. The sacrificial bull was placed precisely according to God’s instructions, and then he waited in silence, looking into the distance. The people must have wondered why until, at the precise moment of the evening sacrifice, he spoke out loud to the “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel” as an intercessor on behalf of the watching, waiting people.
In a flash of fire from heaven, the whole display was gone, totally consumed by the power of God. God had answered, and there was no reason to doubt the Lord God of Israel. The people responded quickly; the false prophets were summarily dealt with, and Baal worship was no longer the official religion of Israel.
Elijah's “effectual fervent prayer” brought the answer of rain that fell in abundance on the dry land. But what happened to Elijah had happened to others before and after him. He got his eyes on himself and was tested after the victory. Despite ourselves and the inclination to take some credit for what God does, we must learn again that God works through us to do His will. We are merely a tool in His hand. Doubts, discouragement, and fear may follow when faith is replaced by the threats of opposition and the acts of persecution aroused in unbelievers.
Jezebel's rage toward Elijah was because she could not control him, and he was a constant thorn in her side. Her prophets told her what she wanted to hear, and their false predictions would have been of praise and glory in her future. Their role was to set the king and queen up as gods and ensure their leadership of the nation continued. With the death of those false prophets, she was determined to vent her anger on Elijah and then kill him. He was the one who predicted gloom and doom for Israel, and he was the one who kept her from doing what she wanted. She was Elijah's bitter and dangerous enemy, and he knew it.
There are varying degrees of resistance to the Lord and His people. Some are merely indifferent to spiritual things, but they do not want to have anything to do with "God or religion." Others have a latent antagonism that expresses itself on occasion. Some are bitterly opposed to the truth of salvation by grace alone without the addition of their works because it makes their independent opinion and efforts of no avail. The teaching of eternal security to others is so abhorrent that one even said, "The teaching of eternal security is right from the pit of hell." Remember, "We wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers. Against spiritual wickedness in high places."
Elijah was not a superhero but a man with emotional and physical reactions when he realized that the conflict in Israel was not over. Instead of basking in the glory of a remarkable victory, he was the object of a determined death threat. There was no hiding the fact that he was the servant of the Lord God of Israel who was a threat to Jezebel, Ahab, and all who opposed the Lord.
Elijah was not a coward, nor was he afraid to die, but he was so discouraged that under the influence of Jezebel, the people of Israel seemed to have no chance of turning back to God. They acknowledged God, but that is not true repentance or faith in Him. The victory on Mt. Carmel was one thing. For Jezebel's religious system to be eliminated and the nation to indeed turn to God was another. There are times when revival seems to be coming or maybe even to have started following some dramatic or tragic event like 9/11 in the United States. But unless there are genuinely changed hearts, the awakening is short-lived.
It is not uncommon for discouragement and fatigue to follow great spiritual victories in the lives of God's people. We have examples like Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Peter, and Mark to warn us of situations in which we have experienced God, especially when working through us. Yet, soon after, there are times of discouragement and failure that may lead to defeat, which we are unaware of because of the danger of tired flesh. The Lord Jesus had His disciples to "Come apart and rest awhile." How kind of God to allow us to rest before reminding us of the importance of our mission and the need to return to work.
Whether Elijah fled out of fear or prudence is unclear, but even the damp land he walked on as he went south testified to his faith and service for the Lord. However, he had lost his heart. After walking for a whole day (perhaps 24 hours) to get farther from Jezebel, he was worn down in spirit, soul, and body and lay under a juniper tree in misery and despair. This time, he speaks to God, not in faith but in doubt and depression.
Self-pity and focusing on our weaknesses, deficiencies, and failures can become so big in our eyes that we can be overwhelmed and want the Lord to take us home so we can be at rest. Those things that seemed unimportant in the light of the victories the Lord allowed us to participate in can quickly become huge and humiliating to us. Instead of what we wanted and hoped for, the Lord’s message is “Arise and eat.” Open the Bible, read, and learn again what you already knew. Our God is sufficient to meet every need in every circumstance. Then get up, go on, and walk in the light as He is in the light. There is divine strength in the bread of God and the water of life.
The angel of the Lord provided food and water to strengthen and refresh Elijah so he could go on a nearly two-hundred-mile journey, traveling day and night for forty days. He went on the strength God had provided him for forty days and nights, apparently without hunger. He had been under the juniper tree in despondency, miserable because he was occupied with himself. Even after having eaten food from God twice, he goes even farther away until he comes to Mount Horeb and finds a cave to hide in, even though he knows he cannot hide from himself.
Elijah likely went all that way for his reasons: probably to get as far away as possible from Jezebel and to die in the place where the word of God was given to Israel in the law. God enabled Elijah to go forty days and nights without food with remarkable grace, as Moses did before him and the Lord Jesus after him. The three met together many years later on a mountain in the sight of Peter, James, and John. Our God often turns what seems like an act of misguided willfulness into a time of blessing. Looking back at those times, we wonder about the long-suffering of God and are so grateful that He didn't deal with us in the way we deserved.
At the "Mount of God," where Moses met with God, he experienced some of the same things Moses had when he met God there. God asked His servant, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” The implication was that he was there for his own reasons, not the Lord’s directive. Elijah didn’t give a direct answer, but He seemed to be saying that what the Lord had been doing for centuries since Israel had passed there on the way to the promised land had been for nothing because the Israelites had broken the covenant with the Lord so many times. He thought his own work was fruitless.
Apathy and defeat often go together with self-pity and self-occupation that robs us of our zeal and commitment to the Lord. There are faithful Christians who have served the Lord for years, but when they look at others who don’t have the same interest and enthusiasm they think they have, they leave the assembly where they are for some other place where nothing is expected of them. When we think other Christians are inconsistent, we need to stop and consider ourselves in the presence of the Lord.
Elijah didn't directly answer the Lord's question, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" Instead, he gave a dissertation of his activities and implied that he was the only one who cared about God's will and the covenant He made with Israel. Self-pity can diminish what one has done because it implies that we accomplished the desired result independently. Self-pity can defeat us. By its nature, self-pity dilutes the victories God has done through us because it exalts us rather than gives all glory to God. We will never know about many of God's people until we reach heaven. They are faithfully serving the Lord in the calling He has given them. God's people are responsible for doing what they do "as unto the Lord."
As Elijah sat looking out from the cave at the sunlight, a violent wind blew so strongly that it cracked the mountains and broke rocks, but God was not in the whirlwind. A great earthquake followed that shook the mountains and the ground beneath Elijah’s feet, but God was not in the earthquake. Fire, with its brightness and uncontrollable force, came much like had happened at Mt. Carmel, but God wasn’t in the fire either. The power and drama on Mt. Carmel, was for a specific purpose, and God was in it. Just because there is a lot of noise and great demonstrations of power doesn’t mean God is in it. God was in the still, small voice that came as an anticlimax; it was the voice of God that was important.
When Elijah was rested enough and ready to listen, the Lord was ready to speak to him and again commission him to fulfill the work set before him. The great wind, the earthquake, and the fire all sent a message to Elijah that God would judge Israel in His own time and way. The gentle whisper was what was needed at the moment when God was showing grace to His rebellious people and His discouraged prophet.
It is always wise to use appropriate measures to achieve the desired results at appropriate times. We are prone to go too far or not far enough unless we hear God's voice in the quietness of a moment in which we are humbled enough to listen to His word without speaking. Those moments of divine revelation can change us forever and make us effective in our service to God. The significance of divine guidance cannot be overestimated. When we know what our Lord wants from us and what He wants to do through us, we can confidently step out again and go forward despite our relapse of faith.
A very important part of the servant's task is to make sure others are able and willing to pick up and carry on the work they once engaged in. God had prophets in training, ready to step out and do what God wanted in the work of the Lord. He had seven thousand faithful people He "reserved" who would not "bow the knee" (kiss the Baal) or submit to that which was wrong. There may be only a few who claim to be children of God who have not surrendered their convictions to the pressures put on them to conform to what is popular.
We need to learn that God has many servants. Some seem insignificant and quiet, but the humblest person may be the best servant. If God is still in a small voice, that is more important than the loud noises around us that people make in the name of religion. God chooses the weak things to confound the mighty. We are expected to yield ourselves to God to use in whatever way He chooses so that no flesh will glory in His sight.
God told Elijah to anoint a king in an enemy country whom God would use to bring about external punishment on the nation. He was also to anoint Jehu, Ahab's military leader, to bring the internal punishment God would use to correct the nation's wrong behavior. It would be Jehu who would deal with those who worshipped Baal.
Elijah's undone work included anointing a successor to himself. Elisha ("God saves; God is salvation") had Elijah's cloak thrown on him as a testimony that the transfer of divine authority would soon be placed upon him and that he would be responsible for prophetic leadership. When Elisha was ready for that work, the cloak was left for him when Elijah was taken up in a chariot of fire. The first act of commitment on Elisha's part was to finish his ties to his source of wealth and independence. No longer would he be an independent farmer.
From then on, God called him to speak for God and depend on the Lord for everything. The slaughter of his animals for an offering of thanks and a feast to be shared by the people around testified to all who were there that God had chosen Elisha to be His prophet. The true service of the Lord is not an add-on to the closing of an independent life but a complete cutting off of self-support. It then becomes a testimony of trust in the Lord alone. Service done only at our convenience is not what is expected of those who speak for God.
Things might only sometimes work out the way we had planned. Even though we’ve had victories in this land and are passing through struggles in life, we know this is not heaven. There is much evil around this whole world. We must remember that even where there’s sin, grace abounds much more. When God allows us to see evidence of His great power and experience many blessings, He showers upon us much more than we deserve. His plans may seem to allow those who live in sin to overcome righteousness and let evil win. But in His infinite wisdom, He works out His sovereign will for us and the ages to come.
Remember who we serve if things don’t work out as we thought they should have. God is still in control and promised to preserve testimony for His name’s sake, although it might be small. Some still serve Him and call on His name when they pray and gather in His name when they worship together. A long time ago, when I was a young believer, I had thought there might be many saved when we preached the Gospel. I thought many would be willing to obey the word He gave us to live by and learn from. But now I know this is not always true. However, I am encouraged to know that the God of the universe does not overlook the few who seek to follow Him and obey His word.
Some I had high hopes for didn’t stay because the commitment price was too high. They were not willing to take up the cross daily and follow the Savior despite opposition and persecution. I believe they are saved, but because of the enticements around them, they strayed from the path of obedience that brings the abundant life the Lord Jesus spoke about. They have not bowed to the pressure of apostasy but seem content with going the way of the Christian life on their own terms. God can use them, though they’re not here with me and those who gather in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
I must remember that God’s work is completed by God's grace alone, not by what I have done or by the self-efforts of those who want to serve God in their own way. I am very thankful He has allowed me to play a small part in His great redemptive work, so I feel confident again and want to continue to be used in His service.