Gratitude in Suffering

Introduction

Good evening One Faith! Glad to be with you this evening and thank you Pastor Ty for asking me to speak again. For the past few weeks, wei’ve been in a series on the subject of Gratitude. A very fitting topic given the week of Thanksgiving—of Giving Thanks! And so, continuing in this spirit I want to look at a very difficult side of Gratitude. On how we maintain that spirit of gratefulness, of thankfullness to God, when our heart is not in it. When we are discouraged and despirited. When we are suffering. When we have suffered loss. When things are not going our way.

You see, it can be a little easy to talk about Gratitude when our bank account is full; when our pantry is stocked; or when our relationships are working smoothly. But what about when it’s the opposite of that? How do we have Graitude in Suffering? That is our topic this evening. And so I want us to look at the example of Elijah in the book of 1 Kings 19. It’s a marvelous story, really. But I want us to look at this story not because Elijah is our example to follow. I want us to look at Elijah not because Elijah shows us an example of gratitude in the middle of hardship—in fact, the story doesn’t really show anything impressive about Elijah at all—except maybe for lettings us know that the prophets were just like us. Full of weakness, fear and despair opposite. No, I want to look at Elijah’s story because it pulls back the curtain a bit. It gives us just a glimpse, a peek into how God walks with us in the middle of our hardship when gratitude is the most difficult thing for us to do. When we can’t do it at all! And that is my purpose this evening: that we might show gratitude to God this very evening as we see how much He loves and cares for His children and how faithful He is to them.

So let’s turn our attention to the passage for consideration: 1 Kings 19:1-13

1 Kings 19:1–13 (NIV)

Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

[Prayer]

Elijah’s Background

Take a look at this picture here [show 1st picture]. This is Mount Carmel, perhaps one of the most famous mountains in all of Israel. It’s not a single mountain but more like a range in the northern part of Israel that stretches from the Mediterraneal Sea to several miles inland. Now this very mountain shows up in the previous chapter—in 1 Kings 18. Here, we are told Elijah had an powerful encounter with 450 prophets of the cheif Canaanite gods, Ba’al.

It was an epic clash. Here’s how it went down: Israel was ruled at the time by the King Ahab, who, along with his Canaanite wife Jezebel, had long led Israel astray. In fact, this guy’s reputation was so bad, we are simply told this about him in 1 Kings 16:33

1 Kings 16:33 (NIV)

Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.

And so the people of Israel followed Ahab’s and Jezebel’s example. They had chased off all of God’s prophets and had forsaken the teaching of their forefathers. All the prophets execept for one brave one—Elijah. Elijah confronted Ahab and gave him a challenge: Bring all of the prophets of Ba’al to Mount Carmel (the prophet’s of Ba’al loved “high places”) for a challenge to see who was the true God—YHWH, the true God of Israel, or this Ba’al who everyone now worshiped. And so the challenge began: Which God could set aflame the altar? We’re told that all the people who could travel came to witness this. The prophets of Ba’al started in the morning. They killed their animal and started begging Ba’al. When the begging didn’t work, that whipped themselves, then cut themselves, then went into a frenzy! Nothing happened to the altar. Meanwhile, Elijah we’re told, is watching this, and he’s making fun of them: “maybe he’s sleepling!” “Why don’t you shout a little louder to wake him up!”

By the afternoon, everybody realizes that this Ba’al god is not very effective, so Elijah steps up to the plate. He douses his sacrifice in water just so everyone knows that this isn’t some trick. Then he prays to the true God of Israel and Boom! Immediately, the entire altar is consumed with flames. The people realize their mistake, and confess that YHWH is the one true God. All of the false prophets of Ba’al are taken and killed as the Old Testament Law required, and Elijah is on top of the world!

And that’s when the trouble begins.

Trouble Comes for us All

Listen to Jezebel’s words: 1 Kings 19:2

1 Kings 19:2 (NIV)

“May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”

And Elijah runs! One Faith, Trouble Comes for All of us. And in 1 Kings 19, it came for Elijah—right after his triumph! This is the part of the story that really gets me. The man goes from the highest of heights to the lowest of lows. Have you ever been there? Hardship and suffering is no respector of persons. And it’s just like life to knock you upside the head just when you think everything is going right. As Christ reminded His disciples in John 16:33

John 16:33 (NIV)

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble...”

But sometimes, the trouble seems so cruel. So unfair. So undeserved! What has Elijah done wrong? He has done nothing wrong! Just the opposite: he has exposed the false gods and opened the eyes of God’s people. He is an innocent man! But look at the words of Ecclesiastes 8:14

Ecclesiastes 8:14 (The MSG)

Here’s something that happens all the time and makes no sense at all: Good people get what’s coming to the wicked, and bad people get what’s coming to the good. I tell you, this makes no sense. It’s smoke.

Now there are those who read this passage and immediately start pointing out how Elijah is just not faithful enough. He just doesn’t believe in God enough. What’s wrong with this guy? He’s weak, he’s a coward. He’s soft! Why doesn’t he just tell Jezebel, “Look, this is how it’s gonna be!”

I don’t look down on Elijah at all! I completely understand his running away from Jezebel in light of her threat.

She’s done it before (see 1 Kings 18:4).

She’s got the fierceness and devotion of a true believer. Jezebel believes in her gods just as much as Elijah believes in YHWH.

She’s the Queen! She has the civic and politcal authority to carry out her threats.

God Meets Us in our Trouble

Now I find it peculiar that God doesn’t scold Elijah. He doesn’t tell him, “What’s wrong with you? Where is your faith?” Although it is His right to ask it. No instead we see a peculiar set of events happening in vs 5-8.

He gives Elijah food and water, and He lets him rest and sleep, and He just gives him time. Look at vs 8; Forty days and fourty nights, Elijah is carrying this burden.

You see, One Faith, God loves His children. He cares about you when you haven’t had enough to eat. When you are exhausted and worry and sorrow has taken your sleep from you, He wants you to rest.

You know we sometimes fall into the trap of an early Christian heresy called Gnosticism. Like the Gnostics, we sometimes mistakenly think that God only cares about our spiritual needs. He only cares about out soul. But your bank account? Nah, He’s not too interested in that. Your pantry? He’s not thinking about that. You sick? Yeah, He’s just waiting till you feel better so He can get back in relationship with you again. Nonesense! God loves His children in their every need! He meets us in all our troubles.

And sometimes He just gives us the time to greive or to feel anger or sorrow. You know I was reminded of this speaking to a friend of ours who lost his father recently. He loved his dad. We were all meeting in a small group having a discussion and he opened up about a particular trouble he had. There’s a popular Praise and Worship song called Firm Foundation, and there is a line in the song that says:

“He’s faithful through generations, so why would He fail now? He won’t, He won’t.”

My friend says he has trouble with those last few words in the line—“He won’t, He won’t.” He says he can’t bring himself to sing it. He knows in His mind that the words are true, but in his heart, he can’t bring himself to confess them. I hear that. I have no condemnation for my friend. Sometimes when the pain of hardship and suffering is so fresh, no amount of singing or Bible study will take it away. Sometimes, we just need time. For some of us, its a little time, for others its a long time.

In Elijah’s case, we’re not exactly sure how much time it took. The phrase “40 days and 40 nights” is a Hebrew idiom that is meant to convey a difficult period of testing or trial. But however long it took Elijah, he finally arrives at Mt Horeb.

God Redeems our Trouble in Unexpected Ways

So I started this message with a picture of a mountain, and I want to end with a picture of another mountain [show 2nd picture]. This is Mount Horeb, another well-known mountain in Israel, and here we’re told Elijah finally arrives and goes into a cave. Now you might say “I’ve never heard of this ‘well-known’ mountain before.” I assure you, most of you have probably heard of this mountain before, you’ve just heard it under a different name—Mount Sinai. Yes, that Mount Sinai, the very mountain where Moses recieved the Law and God established his covenant with his people. They’re the same mountain! This is part of the unexpected twist that the story is setting up for us here, and it’s a reminder to us that God redeems our suffering and trouble in ways that we never expect.

Now that God has ministered to Elijah’s physical needs, and He’s given him time to process the emotional turmoil within, Elijah is now in a position to talk about it. And notice how God opens up a dialogue with him in 1 Kings 19:9

1 Kings 19:9 (NIV)

There he went into a cave and spent the night.

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

And Elijah just lets it all out! It was as though he was just waiting for God to ask him that question. You ever been like that with somebody? You’re just waiting for them to give you the opening, and as soon as they do, you just let them have it! 1 Kings 19:10

1 Kings 19:10 (NIV)

He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

You can tell there’s a not-so-subtle hint here of anger at God. Of blaming God for his situation. He might as well have said: “I’ve done everything right, God. I go to church! I treat my neighbors well! I take care of my community! I’m faithful to my wife; I take good care of my kids! Heck, I even hold all the right political beliefs! I’m the only one doing it right, and this is how you treat me?” By the way, notice his line: “I am the only one left.” We find out later in the story that this is not true. There are many other faithful prophets left, but Elijah doesn’t know it. And more importantly, he feels as though he’s alone.”

And God takes it all in stride. He doesn’t argue back with Elijah, He doesn’t tell him that he’s wrong, nor does He diminish Elijah’s feeling of fear and lonliness. Instead God has Elijah go stand on the mountain and He tells Elijah to wait for His presence, because He’s about to pass by.

It’s a very moving response. It’s moving because God knows deeply what Elijah wants—He want’s to know that God is with him. But Elijah doesn’t just want to know it intellectually. Elijah want’s to have a deep and personal encounter with God. Not a merely academic one. And so God gives him just that, but with a twist: 1 Kings 19:11-12

1 Kings 19:11–12 (NIV)

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

And here Elijah’s redemption begins.

You see, on the first mountain—on Mount Carmel, God gave Elijah exactly what he needed: Fire! A dramatic and grand display of HIs power. But on this second mountain—Mount Horeb, Elijah did not need fire. Sometimes in the middle of our turmoil, God meets us not with dramatic power but with a gentle whisper to our soul. Whatever our need is, He knows it.

And so today, if you’re like Elijah, whether your needs are physical or emotional or spiritual, let us give thanks to our God who knows what we need, when we need it. Even if we ourselves don’t. Let us show gratitude to our Lord who meets us in our trouble and who redeems us in unexpected ways.