Not the Only Ones
And he came there to the cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of Jehovah came to him, and said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” And he said, I have been very zealous for Jehovah the God of Hosts, for the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant; they have thrown down your altars, and they have killed Your prophets with the sword, and I am left, I alone, and they seek to take my life. – I Kings 19:9-10
Sometimes when we look around we find ourselves alone. Many of us are surrounded by the oppressive weight of unrighteousness, not because we are necessarily the righteous, but because we have – in that moment – a clear vision of the meaning and mass of unrighteousness.
Sometimes it feels like we are in a world devoid of light. We pray for a sign, a gift of understanding that will help us through some trial of faith, or difficulty of understanding only to find an immediate answer is not coming.
These moments can be lonely, even depressing. One of the greatest of prophets, Elijah, who had just previously called down fire from heaven to destroy the priests of Baal, found himself in a cave, alone and depressed. Such is the human condition.
We do not have the benefit of omniscience. We do not have the power of omnipresence. We cannot see beyond the physical boundaries we are chained to, without the power of the Holy Spirit. We do not know what things have been planned around us. We can only know what we are supposed to do in the moments we have ahead of us. It is in this that we must understand the strength of our God.
When Elijah cried out to God he was told to go to the mouth of the cave and wait. Many teachers and preachers have related the story of the thunder, the earthquake, the fire and the still small voice. It is in the still small voice that we find God, but what the still small voice said to Elijah sometimes is overlooked.
God simply asked Elijah “What are you doing here…?” What follows is really an interesting exchange that tells us the tone of this question. Elijah wrings his hands and cries about being alone and God simply tells him to go because everything has already been prepared for him. Then, God simply says oh, by the way, “I have left in Israel seven thousand, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” (I Kings 19:18)
Elijah’s mission was for Elijah alone. He felt alone because he had been given the singular tasks that God had set before him. God had put Elijah in a position of autonomy because of his faithfulness to God’s will. When Elijah found himself in a place where it appeared that he was alone, he became afraid.
This story is a story of the maturation of a believer in the love of God, and in the purpose of the Kingdom. Sometimes it can be lonely serving God. Sometimes it is frightening to be on our own. Sometimes we can let depression seep into our psyche so far that it takes over our will. We must, each of us, remember that God, though we may not see him in the thunder, or the earthquake, or the fire, is always with us and speaks to us in his still small voice; you are not the only ones.
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