He had run for his life and then plopped down under a juniper tree, praying to die…all because of a crazed woman on a power trip.

The pagan-god-worshipping Phoenician Princess turned Queen of Israel seemingly had but two objectives: the total apostasy and rejection of the Hebrew faith and eradication of the prophet of God.  And Elijah, in his emptiness and defeat was playing right into her evil hands. 

So strong and powerful was Jezebel’s evil force that it’s maniacal, yet calculated, methods sent Elijah past the brink of insanity, quite a feat considering he had just been the vessel used to demonstrate one of the most powerful displays of God’s power in all of the nation’s history when the prophets of Baal were defeated on Mount Carmel.

Afraid and assumingly all alone, he had given up.  He was depressed, defeated, done.

Yet God had other plans for his life.  And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.

So, he ate the food God provided him, and decided he would return to his slumber, finding it far easier to give up than to get up.

Again, the message Arise and eat was given to him a second time and he went unto Horeb, the mount of God, to a cave and lodged there.  Yet, that wasn’t where God was calling him to be. Thus God asked him, What are you doing here, Elijah?  A hard question when we are running, stalling, hiding from an omniscient and omnipresent God.  An uncomfortable confrontation from the Almighty, confirming that, which in his heart, Elijah must have already known-that he was no more where God wanted him to be while hiding in a cave than he had been while snoozing under a juniper tree, praying for his life to end. 

Elijah, maybe in another moment of self-pity, maybe in a vein of self-justification, or maybe just trying to process the encounter and answer as truthfully as he could, defended his position: And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

Yet, Elijah didn’t have to tell God what he had done, what he had seen.  He didn’t have to tell him of the hardships and the fears.  God already knew.   God had a way, a plan and he certainly hadn’t left his servant alone.  Elijah thought he was done, but God wasn’t done with him.  God was about to allow Elijah another first-hand experience of His power and might.

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks 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 still small voice.

A voice that beckoned, pulling him to it, and yet that voice again asked the same hard question,  “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

His finite mind was yet unable to comprehend and he resorted again to his answer from before, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

Yet, God in His infinite wisdom and mercy knew what Elijah, in darkness and seeming defeat needed.  He’d run and hidden from Jezebel, but there was One from whom he could never hide.  He’d isolated himself, afraid and believing he was all alone, but he was never out of God’s presence.  When evil sought his life to kill and destroy; God rescued and restored. And no matter how many explanations Elijah had for why he was where he was or why he didn’t think he could go on, God’s plan for his life was not complete.  

And as the Almighty revealed his plan and promises to his prophet and for the nation: new kings, a remnant which had not bowed to Baal, an end for the enemy, and a counterpart to come alongside him and then carry on in the work of the LORD, Elijah must have realized that for a child of God, His work is not in hiding, alone and afraid, in seeming darkness and defeat, but instead, there is strength for the weary and power for the weak. 

The very same God who pulled Elijah from desperation and isolation can and does still bring restoration and transformation today.