THANKFUL

Chatting with Jesus

Monday, October 17, 2022

Lord, 1 Kings 18–21 records the story of the prophet Elijah. On Mount Carmel, Elijah called down fire from heaven that consumed the sacrifice and destroyed the 400 false prophets of Baal. This incident may be considered his most noteworthy miracle since the nation repented and returned to You, God.

Was Elijah a flawless saint? Far from it. Scripture says he was like us in every way (James 5:17). Immediately after this monumental event, the evil Queen Jezebel threatened his life. In fear, he fled 300 miles to the wilderness to Mount Sinai. There, he hid in a cave.

“What are you doing here, Elijah?” the Lord said.

Depressed and exhausted, Elijah complained even though he did great exploits and miracles for God, he was the only prophet left alive, and poor me, Jezebel wants me dead too.

Perhaps Elijah should have asked himself, “How did I end up here?” Or maybe more important, “What do You want to show me, Lord?” You gave Elijah a new eye-opening revelation of who You are.  After resting, restoring, and re-energizing him, You gave him a new assignment.

“Go back the same way you came,” You commanded. You never let a wilderness experience go to waste, do You Lord? 

On Elijah’s journey back to where You wanted him to be, he would view his wilderness experience from Your perspective. He saw his mistakes, where he went wrong, what he should have done but didn’t, how that foolish choice caused him avoidable spiritual and emotional pain. However, Elijah had another eye-opening moment: he saw the faithfulness of Your hand of protection and provision on him, even before he fled from Jezebel.

We shouldn’t think depression cannot affect believers. Like Elijah, at some point all Christ-followers will go through a wilderness experience. We will want to find a cave. And like Elijah, this is especially true after a significant spiritual breakthrough. We may not have a wilderness experience to the extent of Elijah had, but stay alert—the devil, ole Slewfoot has a “Jezebel moment” waiting for you with your name on it. He will do anything to cause us to doubt our faith in Your Word.

Lord, I’ve been there. Lovingly, You met me where I was, hiding in my cave. You met me in my emotional and spiritual pain. And You showed me where and how I got off-track. You did what only You can do—restore, refresh, re-energize.

You will do the same for all who call out to You, Lord Jesus. With a grateful heart, Amen