Then
he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came
to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He
said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of
Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your
prophets with the sword. And I alone am
left; and they seek my life to take it away.”
1
Kings 19:9-10
I
heard a pastor say that if Elijah had someone ministering with him to encourage
him, he would not have been in the cave but would have kept going and doing
what God called him to do.
I
am not so sure about that. Elijah called
the fired down from heaven just prior to this and then he shook off Jezebel’s
threat to kill him. Elijah might be
viewed as chicken for not facing up to Jezebel but I think he saw the threat as
having no teeth because he had just called the fire of God down from heaven and
nobody in their right mind would mess with him after that.
That
brings me to why Elijah was in the cave.
Elijah needed to rest. Calling the
fire down from heaven took a lot out of him.
He was physically and spiritually drained. God knew this and that is why he did not say,
“Get back to work.” but asked, “What are you doing here?” God knew what Elijah was doing and He wanted
Elijah to say why he was there. God let
him rest a bit and then when Elijah was revived He sent him to crown a
king.
The
point is that when we are tired, worn and irritable, we need to take a
rest. We are no good to God or anyone
else if we are exhausted.
So,
go to the beach or for ice cream or for a walk or take a nap and be
revived.
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