A Still Small Voice

Introduction

Have you ever felt alone in your walk with God? As though you are the only one working for God? As though all the world around you is against you, and against God? As if everybody despises you because of your faith? Have you ever felt as if you were on an island of faith, surrounded by a sea of despair and destruction? Have you ever felt overwhelmed by these feelings? The message today reassures us that God is always working in the background and will never leave us in dire times.

1 Kings 19:1-2 Threats From a Queen

Queen Jezebel was much more than a mere woman. She was the daughter of a Sidonian king named Ethbaal. Her father’s name literally translates to “with Baal”. She was herself a priestess of Baal, and she had charge of 450 prophets of Baal in Israel. When Ahab commited the sin of marrying Jezebel he sealed his fate by serving and worshipping Baal, and giving Jezebel and her father much control of the land. Ahab built altars and temples to Baal in Samaria and began leading Israel astray. This is what caused God to send a drought, which was the catalyst for the events of chapter 18. Recall from last week that chapter 18 is the story of Elijah’s challenge against the 450 prophets of Baal and that when God showed His ultimate power the prophets were killed. After this event, Jezebel sends Elijah a message that she is going to hunt him down and kill him.

1 Kings 19:3-4 The Evil of the World Can Overwhelm Even God’s Most Devoted

To touch on the despair that Elijah felt once again, it can be odd to see this man, who was just the instrument used by God to dig the splinter of Baal out of Israel, so afraid of one woman. Let’s see how Elijah got into the situation he is in in verse 4. First, notice how Ahab, the “king” of Israel ran to Jezebel in verse 1 to tell her everything Elijah did. He is the king shouldn’t he be able to fight his own fight? This isn’t the only time he gives control to his wife. Go read the story of Naboth’s vineyard in 1 Kings 21. Jezebel was an evil evil woman and Ahab was a very weak man. Second, realize that Elijah was physically, mentally, and spiritually exhausted. He has just been an instrument for a catastrophic miracle by God, directed the slaying of 450 prophets, and ran back to Jezreel faster than Ahab rode there on a chariot! In his weakened and exhausted state Elijah forgot the most important fact of life for God’s people. God is in control, and if He is for us, who can be against us? And so, before consulting with God, Elijah was overwhelmed with fear and ran for his life.

1 Kings 19:5-8 The Lord Provides Strength

Sometimes I think God has a sense of humor and gets a chuckle out of situations. Take this one for example, Elijah has just got done travelling into the wilderness to the point of exhaustion to get away from Jezebel and is begging God to end his life. He wants God to kill him so Jezebel doesn’t have the opportunity to torture him and cause him pain. What does God do? He provides everything Elijah needs to live! Elijah only wants to die and God yet again provides life and sustenance for His follower. Haven’t we all gotten cranky at the lack of a nap and I know you all know what the word hangry means. So when Elijah was in the middle of his despair, God said eat, drink, and rest. Do you know that a proper meal, hydration, and rest can significantly improve your mood and health? However, the point here is that God will always provide the strength necessary to accomplish His will. Notice also that after Elijah eats, drinks, and rests, God sends him on a trip for forty days and forty nights to Horeb.

1 Kings 19:9 God Asks Questions Not for His Benefit, but for Ours.

When Elijah reaches a cave on the side of Mount Horeb, and begins to rest again He is approached by the voice of God. If God is omniscient (all-knowing), why does He ask questions like this to His followers? Remember that after Adam and Eve sinned God walked through the garden and asked where they were, and there are other examples throughout the Bible of God asking questions He already knows the answer to. So why does He ask these questions, why is He asking Elijah this seemingly obvious question? Well, it’s for Elijah’s benefit. He KNOWS why Elijah has fled to Him. He KNOWS what Elijah is afraid of. He KNOWS that Elijah believes he is alone. When your children need help with something, do you automatically do the task for them, or do you walk them through it? God doesn’t want us to just sit idly by while we wait for Him to do everything. He wants us to show our faith by beginning the work and He will provide all that is necessary to complete it. So He asks Elijah why he is there to pull Elijah into a conversation. He asks Elijah why he is there so Elijah will verbalize his thoughts and feelings.

1 Kings 19:10 When Our Focus Leaves God and Centers on Ourselves

What is the common theme of verse 10? Elijah is only focused on HIS work for God, not God’s work for Israel. After the cataclysmic destruction of the prophets of Baal Elijah was only looking at his work, his actions, his preaching, the threats on his life. Look at what he says: “I have been very jealous” “your children have forsaken you” “they throw down altars and kill prophets” “I am the only one left” “they want to kill me”. Do you want to know the core reason why Elijah despaired? Because his focused shifted from God to the evil of Israel and his own goodness. If you measure up your own goodness against the evil of the world you will be overwhelmed every time. Measure up the goodness of God against the evil of the world, however, and what happens? He wins, just like with the prophets of Baal.

1 Kings 19:11-13 We Expect Earthquakes, Fires, and Storms, but God is All We Need

When we open up to God with all of our issues, all of our bemoaning, all of our woes, we expect Him to wipe it all away with catastrophic storms, fires, or even earthquakes. In fact, we WANT Him to do this for us. We nearly demand it. However, God is not always going to destroy our enemies, or problems with catastrophe. If you take a moment, breath deeply for a moment, pray to God, and listen…you will hear the still small voice outside your perceived isolation. When Elijah finally takes a moment and hears God’s still small voice he approaches the presence of God. God asks him again, what are you doing here? Unfortunately, Elijah still hasn’t quite learned the lesson. This reminds me of when your child approaches you hysterically crying about something, and you make them slow down and speak calmly, but they’re still crying about the same issue.

1 Kings 19:14-18 We Are Not Islands, Isolated and Surrounded by the World

Elijah believes that he is really, and truly alone. God takes these four verses to explain to Elijah His plan (which He had no obligation to do, He only did it out of love). God tells Elijah that he is not alone, He still has servants throughout Israel, and has even planned the succession of kingship from Ahab and found a replacement for Elijah when it’s Elijah’s time to depart the world. How great and wonderful would it have been to here these things from God? When Elijah approached the still small voice and listened to God speak he was reassured, and discovered that he was not nearly as alone as he was afraid.

Application

The most important thing to remember about 1 Kings 19 is that when we feel like we are isolated, alone, or that the entire world is against us because of our faith; God is there and He will always provide for His people. God does not need any of us for His purposes, but if we allow Him to use us we will be blessed in eternity.