By Drew Williams
Elijah is a great prophet, but he is also very human — and there is only so much disappointment, opposition, pain, and conflict that any of us can take. In 1 Kings 19, we see someone whose light is about to go out. He has actually come to the point where he is ready to quit. He says, “Take my life. I don’t even want to live.” (1 Kings 19:4) Last week we looked at God’s first response to this bruised reed. We discovered that reasoning and explanation are seldom God’s first response.
Seeing Elijah’s depression and exhaustion, the first thing the Lord does is to give him two good meals and let him sleep. The Lord knows us so well. He knows of what we are made, and He knows our breaking point. And, Elijah’s story would reassure us that God’s response is immediate, His touch is tender, His timing is perfect and His heart aims to forgive, heal, and restore us. But what happens next? How is our fallen hero restored? This is all about God’s careful re-tuning of Elijah’s heart. I think pictorially, and what I see is an old-fashioned radio being carefully tuned, the old Bakelite rounded button being turned a fraction at a time, so that the static crackle and hiss of chaos might be hushed and God’s still, small voice clearly heard again.
Verse 8 of 1 Kings 19 picks up the story. Having been physically refreshed, Elijah then takes a forty day and night trip to Mount Horeb, which, according to some scholars, is another name for Mount Sinai. It is not clear that the Lord ever expressly called Elijah to Mount Horeb. The Lord had, in fact, directed Elijah to go to Kerith and to Zarephath, but this all seems to have been ignored, or conveniently forgotten by our hero. What is clear is that the Lord knows exactly where Elijah is headed and is gracious enough to meet him there. I am comforted to know that it is not above God to show up and meet me exactly where I am — even when I am headed in completely the wrong direction.
Elijah reaches Mount Horeb, and the Lord asks him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:9) It is always a mistake to imagine that, when the Lord asks you a question, He does not know the answer. The Lord knows exactly what Elijah is doing on the mountain — he is having a crisis of faith, a temper tantrum, and a nervous breakdown, while hiding out in a dark cave! The Lord asks Elijah the question because He is making two points. First, God is reminding Elijah, “I didn’t actually ask you to come to Mount Horeb.” And, second, He is encouraging Elijah to say out loud what is in his heart — not because the Lord needs to hear, but so that Elijah can hear his own heart.
Elijah misses all these subtleties but does take the opportunity to get everything off his chest. I imagine that he has been rehearsing this speech for forty days. He says, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and put Your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.” (1 Kings 19:10) In summary, “I have faithfully fulfilled my part. Where were you?” This is Elijah at his broken worst.
Now begins the Lord’s masterful re-tuning of Elijah’s heart. The Lord asks him to step out of the cave and stand on the mountain, because His presence is about to pass by. We are told, “Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.” (1 Kings 19:11b-13a)
We worship the God of all power and might. We are told in Isaiah 6:1 that the hem of His garment fills the whole Temple — so we can imagine that when God shows up anywhere it causes something of a scene. But, in appearing to Elijah as the gentle whisper, the small still voice, it is as if God has graciously shrunk Himself down so that His broken prophet won’t be terrified.
The Lord desires Elijah’s full attention. And, notice what is being demonstrated here. Elijah is not disqualified because of his brokenness. There is no moment when the Lord says, “You have gone too far!” We might be tempted to think this about ourselves, but God never does. As a company of broken heroes, we can know His still small voice because of His grace and mercy toward us. If this was about my ability to hear, then I am in so much trouble. But, this is not about my ability to hear — this is all about His ability and His gracious choice to be heard.
So, the Lord asks Elijah again, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” To which Elijah, still missing the point, repeats the exact same speech. How many times do we get stuck in the pain loop of some grievance. Like the perpetual tape, round and round it goes in our hearts. This is not beyond the Lord. Elijah’s response would tell us that he is both stuck in his pain and still does not understand the breadth of the plan of Salvation, of which he is a part. But, it was enough for the Lord that Elijah was now listening. It was enough for the Lord that Elijah had obediently stepped out of hiding. Elijah does not understand, but he is listening, and he is obedient to once again step out in faith — and this is all the Lord is asking of any of us. Now that the Lord knows that He has Elijah’s full attention, He re-commissions him. More than that, He promotes him.
Ultimately, how did everything work out for our broken hero? About 875 years later, on another mountaintop, the apostle Luke writes, “As He [Jesus] was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus.” (Luke 9:29-30)
Elijah’s story is an extraordinary piece of Godly restoration. And yet, all the while, Elijah was part of a bigger plan that was so radical in its grace, so astounding in its breadth, that almost 3,000 years later we might all know an even fuller restoration in Christ — that no matter how broken, confused, lost, unfaithful, or overwhelmed we may feel, the grace of His still small voice and the mercy of His love will always prevail over us.
Drew Williams is the Senior Pastor of Trinity Church. Visit Trinitychurch.life
