Read 1 Kings 19:11-21

The Work Continues

Elijah was discouraged by his perceived lack of support and fled from the threat of Jezebel. He believed he was the only one faithful to God’s Word, but God showed him that he should not have run. He asked, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:13). Elijah was not where he was supposed to be, or where God wanted him to be; there was still work to be done, and in that work, the prophet would be supported by and protected by the Almighty.

Elijah explained his thought process, saying, “I alone am left; and they seek to take my life” (1 Kings 19:14). But God told the prophet, “Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:18). God did not reprimand His prophet harshly but encouraged him through the knowledge that there were others like him.

Since there were still faithful servants, God gave Elijah certain tasks to complete. These tasks would help get Elijah out of his depressed state, giving him real purposeful work to complete. When we find ourselves discouraged in our work, we should take a close look at its purpose and how fulfilling that purpose will help God’s cause. Elijah was told to anoint Hazael as king over Syria and Jehu as king over Israel. God also told him to anoint Elisha as the prophet to follow him.

Do you remember in school when a teacher would give you “busy work” to fill time? There was no real point to the work. This is not what God assigned to Elijah. Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha all had important work to do.

Elijah’s focus was no longer on his perceived failures against Ahab and Jezebel, but on the successes that lay before him in God’s kingdom. Was this not the apostle Paul’s focus as well? “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

Read 1 Kings 19:1-10

Discouragement

Even in the life of a faithful child of God, there will be times when everything seems hopeless. It appears as if no one around you is doing what they ought, and you are fighting a battle you can never win. No matter which direction you turn, you will lose. There is no point in even trying!

The prophet Elijah was discouraged following the defeat of the prophets of Baal. Ahab told his wife Jezebel what happened, and she sent word to Elijah that she would have him killed. “And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a room tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, ‘It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!’” (1 Kings 19:3-4).

Have you ever been so discouraged in your life that you prayed for death? Elijah saw himself as a failure. Despite proving the power of God and defeating the idolatrous prophets of Baal, Elijah continued to stand alone. No one wanted to join him in serving the true God of heaven. “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life” (1 Kings 19:10).

There will be times in life that you will feel alone in doing what is right in the sight of God. Don’t let that discouragement derail you from doing the will of God! Keep in mind that even if you stand alone with God, you are still on the winning side. God cannot be defeated.

Consider the words of Paul the apostle: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?…Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:31-32, 37).

You will get discouraged. Don’t give up. Stand with God through it.