Last Sunday (6th July) Dave spoke from 1 Kings 19:1-18, asking the question ‘Are we under the tree?’ The tree, of course, was where Elijah was found after his mighty battle with the prophets of Baal, when, threatened by Jezebel, he fled to the desert in fear of his life. We see here Elijah in fear, exhausted, losing focus, discouraged. We often feel like this and end up depressed, whining, feeling that God is unkind and it’s not worth continuing in faith. It’s always dangerous when we confuse God’s blessing and our achievements and focus on ourselves rather than on God.
This is not simply the story of Elijah’s battle of dejection, but how God dealt with the situation. Instead of answering Elijah’s prayer to end his life (Elijah never actually died, after all!), God fed him and roused him from sleep, moving him on to still higher ground, getting him ready for the ‘more’. There was a 40 day journey to be made (a significant number spiritually) and Elijah needed to be prepared for it (even though the journey itself should not have taken that length of time.)
God is always in control of our lives, even when we feel quite the opposite is true. Elijah’s understanding of the situation was far from being the same as God’s perspective on the matter. Elijah felt that he was God’s last hope and that if he failed, God would fail. God reminded him that there were people still true to Him in that place and came to his servant not in power and majesty, but in a gentle whisper. He reminded Elijah of the true situation, correcting his perspective, calming his spirit. God’s response to Elijah was that he would use Elijah in His way, which included using other people as well. He had to follow God’s instructions and trust Him to do what he could not do himself; trust will always be required, lest we attempt to take control of situations which are not ours to control. We need to understand that though God wants us to give all of ourselves to Him, there are others who are also eager to serve God; He never intended us to ‘go it alone’ but to work together as a group, always recognising God as the One who is in control and the only one who can keep our enthusiasm ablaze. We need to rise from the tree and go forth with God, secure in both His power and His sovereignty.