Welcome to day 6 of our 40 day challenge! Today, we are in 1 Kings 19.

(You can catch up on our Intro, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5 if you missed them)

Today we are in 1 Kings 19:1-13:

1 Kings 19:1-13

Elijah Flees to Horeb

19 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. ² So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”

³ Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, ⁴ while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” ⁵ Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” ⁶ He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

⁷ The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”⁸ So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. ⁹ There he went into a cave and spent the night.

The Lord Appears to Elijah

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁰ He replied, “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.”

¹¹ The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

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. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.¹³ When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

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In this passage today, we see the incredible care and kindness of God.

Elijah has just experienced a mighty display of God’s power through him on Mt Carmel. His mountaintop experience quickly turned into the valley of the shadow of death. Instead of trusting and full of faith, Elijah finds himself scared and overwhelmed. And instead of consulting the Lord about his next steps, he runs, then goes alone into the wilderness, and prays to die.

The way the Lord responds is beautiful and will help us navigate our own hard times.

The Lord doesn’t rebuke Elijah or tell him to just have faith. He doesn’t abandon Elijah to his own devices. The Lord goes with him, cares for him, and gives him the rest and nourishment he needs. The journey is too much for you.

The Lord will help Elijah get back to where he needs to be. But he first needs rest and nourishment. And then God asks, what are you doing here? The Lord knows what Elijah is doing. But the question, asked tenderly with no condemnation, helps Elijah put to words the fears in his heart. God listens as Elijah pours out his fears. After rest and nourishment, Elijah is now able to pull his fears out of the dark and into the light in God’s presence.

The Lord’s response to Elijah’s fears is to have him stand on the mountain in His presence, because He is about to pass by. Elijah gets an object lesson of God’s presence. God wasn’t in the great and powerful wind, not in the earthquake, or in the fire, but in a gentle whisper. When Elijah might have been tempted to see God only in the big, dramatic expressions of power, he needed the reminder that God is present with him, with a voice quiet and still. Elijah must quiet his heart and his mind to listen to the Lord.

And then, after Elijah had rest and nourishment, after telling the Lord his fears, and listening in His presence, the Lord gave Elijah the next step.

And that’s a message for all of us today as well. This passage can help guide us in what to do next when we’re struggling: Get rest and nourishment. Tell the Lord just what is going on, bringing your fears and overwhelm out of the dark recesses of your minds and into His light. Spend time listening for His still small voice.

God doesn’t turn away from our pain. God knows what we need, and He comes alongside us, cares for us, and comforts us in it.

Most of us won’t experience the big, showy, fire-from-heaven moments in our walk with the Lord, or the running-for-our-lives-in-fear moments. But we will get overwhelmed. We’ll feel fear instead of faith when we face our opposition. We might run away and feel defeated, ready to give up. But the Lord is always right there alongside us. The journey is too much for you. That’s why we have Jesus. ♥

Fun note: In yesterday’s passage, the devil tempted Jesus to use His power (apart from His communion with God) and turn stones into bread. In today’s passage, we see the angel of the Lord baking bread on stones for Elijah long before that. If the angel of the Lord is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus, then the One tempted to turn stones into bread was here with Elijah, baking bread on hot stones for him. ♥  (Jack talks about this several times, including this Q&A in Exodus, and this one in Joshua.) We also see the theme of 40 days and the wilderness in both!

Options for further  journaling or discussion throughout the challenge:

• Choose a part of the passage to write out by hand. Writing by hand helps us slow down and focus on what the Lord might highlight for us in the passage. Our brains can focus and remember better by writing than just reading alone.
• Journal about what the passage brings to mind. Does the passage tell us anything about God? Does it tell us anything about our response to Him?
• Does your heart respond in gratitude to any part of the passage? Write or pray your gratitude to the Lord.

We’ll see you tomorrow, for Day 7 in Matthew 18!

♥ Samantha