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In today’s story, we see Elijah in despair.
Verse 4 captures this very well.
But he [Elijah] himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” (1 Kings 19:4)
Elijah was a capable individual.
If Moses represents the Law, Elijah represents the Prophets. He shows up at Jesus’ transfiguration.
He strongly opposed the idol worship of Baal by confronting King Ahab, and demonstrated God’s power. He single-handedly put away the prophets of Baal. He turned the Israelites back to God.
Yet, even someone so capable like Elijah fell into despair.
Jezebel’s threats made him afraid and run for his life. He found himself alone in the wilderness. Under the broom tree, he asked God to take his life.
We see a completely different person here. Not courageous, but tired, frustrated, and afraid.
We are like Elijah.
There are times when we can handle just about anything. But we also have times when we are just helpless, afraid, and weak.
Everything just feels too much. All we can think about is giving up everything.
Teresa of Avila said this—
One day I am so full of courage that I would do anything for God. The next day I would not kill an ant if I met the slightest opposition. There are days when nothing anyone says disturbs me. And yet there are also days when a single word so devastates me that I long to flee this world.
Despair is like quicksand.
It empties us of our strength. It robs us of our desire and will to live. It takes away our confidence.
It is quiet and deadly. The longer we stay in it, the deeper it takes us into darkness.
There is only one way out of our despair.
It is by restoring hope within us. Only hope can give us the strength to overcome the power of despair.
Hope isn’t something that we can create on our own. Sure, if we see any possibility of something better in the situation, we might be able to. But real despair is when we see no glimpse of hope in our situation.
How can we be hopeful when we have none within ourselves? It is a futile effort.
Hope is a gift from God.
It is not an emotion we create. Hope is the strength we find in God.
Yes – Elijah was desperate and hopeless. But he did not abandon his faith or walk away from God. Rather, he cried out to God.
He spoke from his heart. He was honest about his frustration and disappointment.
In today’s passage, we see God restoring Elijah, little by little.
First, God gives Elijah rest and food. He takes care of Elijah’s basic needs. But that’s not all there is.
Sleeping and eating is only a part of the bigger process. What God does next is quite interesting.
God appears to Elijah – who is now physically recovered and at Mount Horeb – as a still, small voice in the silence.
He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. (1 Kings 19:11, 12)
God says only two things to Elijah in the passage.
One is a question. The other is a calling.
What are you doing here, Elijah? (1 Kings 19:9, 13)
Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. (1 Kings 19:15a)
These two sayings are connected.
Elijah was far from where he was supposed to be. He was in the desert in Sinai, far south of the border of Judah. So God calls him to go back to the wilderness of Damascus, far north of the border of Israel.
With these words, God redirects Elijah’s life altogether.
This reminded me of Jesus calling Peter after the resurrection.
Jesus also asks Peter a question. (“Do you love me?”) He then commands him to feed and look after his sheep. Jesus restores Peter in this way.
When God speaks to us, God is not just telling us to do something. God is empowering us to live our life diligently.
In other words – God’s word restores hope within us.
Listening to the still, small voice of God is an important spiritual practice. We must learn to listen to God in the white noise of our life. God speaks to those who wait and long for him.
God will give us the word we need to hear. God’s word is the channel of hope.
When hope is restored within us, we regain our confidence.
We see the path we need to take. We find the courage to stand up and keep moving forward.
But more importantly, we begin to see the work that God is already doing in our lives.
When Elijah was in despair, he thought he was all alone. He couldn’t see any visible fruit of his effort. He felt like everything was in vain.
I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away. (1 Kings 19:10, 14)
But when God spoke to him, what he heard became a turning point in his journey.
It comes a little after today’s text.
Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him. (1 Kings 19:18)
Put yourself in his shoes. How surprising this must’ve been for Elijah. Not just tens or hundreds – but thousands!
The source of our hope is not ourselves. It is God who has already begun a good work and is continuing to do it in our midst.
We heard something similar at the ESM retreat recently. Rev. Kim unpacked who Jesus is in each of the synoptic gospels.
With Matthew, he spoke about the message of fulfillment. On the second night, he shared this insight with everyone after the group discussion.
There is a history that we see unfolding in our world. But within that history, there is another history that is unfolding – one that God is creating.
The history of the world may seem to be heading towards darkness, but even in that darkness, God is fighting a good fight. God carries out his will every moment through those who follow the narrow path.
That message spoke to me.
Tomorrow marks the first year since my ordination. The entire year passed by so quickly.
Personally, it has been a challenging year. I was doing more or less the same ministry as before. But for some reason, everything felt much more difficult.
I tried giving my best as always, but even my best didn’t seem enough. It even felt like I was doing worse than before.
It was also hard to see the state of the broader church. I saw the struggle of our denomination, the lack of people entering ministry, and young ministers in our presbytery resigning.
I wondered about what the future held for ministry and the church. I wrestled a lot.
However, through what I was able to hear recently, God restored hope within me. It redirected my focus on what God is doing.
I saw a new change taking place in our denomination when I attended the General Assembly earlier this month. I saw others also persevering and fighting the good fight.
I was reminded of St. Paul’s words—
We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
What we see and feel is only a small part. All our frustration, disappointment, and hopelessness come from our small judgement.
Let God restore hope within you. Find your confidence and courage in God.
We cannot walk our journey alone. Our life is ours to live. But we must walk with God. It is by relying on God that we will be able to make our journey.
The psalmist wrote—
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God. (Psalm 43:5)
When hope is restored within us, we find peace. We become whole.
The worries of life disappear, and fear can no longer exercise its power over us.
Hopeful people bring hope to others. People of hope are the people of God.
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