1Kings 19:1-3, “1… And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life…”
If you are ever going to do anything for the Lord, be sure that the spirit of Jezebel will show up when you have done what you need to do. The spirit of Jezebel always brings fear, threats and is out to steal your faith and confidence in God. If Elijah called on God to answer by fire and He did, couldn’t he have believed God for fire to defend him from Jezebel? The bible says that God went before the children of Israel by day as a cloud of wind and by night as a pillar of fire. Darkness is associated with evil therefore Elijah being threatened was the presence of evil and he needed God to go before him by night as a pillar of fire. Some of us need God to go before us today as a pillar of fire as we face our Jezebels.
After running for his life into the wilderness, he prayed that his life would be taken away, as we saw how God feed him with what he needed. It’s an encouragement to us that God cares for his servants in the moments of triumphant and in the moments of defeat. The Lord does not abandon us when we are defeated and we shouldn’t abandon the Lord when we feel defeated. A true believer will run to the Lord when his life is under pressure and when they feel like giving up. They will also know that their confidence is not in themselves but God. Elijah ran into the wilderness looking for death only to find life, God reached out to him. This is the Lord I fall in love with daily. As Ravi Zacharias has said, “God did not hide the scars of our hero’s in the bible”. That even the men God used mightily had their moments of struggle with sin, fear, battles, challenges you name it and we can identify with them.
Vs. 8, “So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God”, Given food and drink kept him running 40 days and 40 nights, wow!!. We get hungry after every few hours. God knows what we NEED best and He supplies it. Philippians 4:19, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”, 2Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, My strength is made perfect in weakness” God gave Elijah what he needed for that period of time and it was enough to sustain him in the journey God had set for him. I believe the Lord was teaching him that what He had started, He would be faithful to complete it and because He wasn’t done with Elijah, He would provide all the necessary tools he needed to keep him strong to fulfill His call in his life.
You realize that after being fed, never again do you hear him complain of his desire to die. Remember this, when it gets tough, He is offering to ease your burdens, Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest“. It’s not giving up that you need, it’s the rest you need for the journey that is still long. If He was done with you, He would have killed you Himself but the fact that you are alive and kicking is an indication that your journey is not over. You may be missing in action yet you are being prepared for a comeback. God will give you rest, equip you, feed you, reveal Himself to you and will send you back to where you tried to run away from. The only difference is that you are going back as a changed, renewed person. Blessings Evans, God’s servant
He Has Magnified His Word 