Thrust: God will always show up—even at the most unexpected place and the most inconvenient time—for His people who’re in trouble.

1. Satan's Ploy

Jezebel, the Handmaid of Satan

• Swore by the gods to kill Elijah
• "Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life" (v.3)
• "I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals." (v.19)

2. Elijah's Plight

Mt. Carmel to Beersheba - 185km

Having spent all his energy, he sought God's permission to die.

He slept, and an angel came and woke him up, and he got up and ate a cake cooked over an oven and drank a jar of water. He lay down again. For a second time, the angel of the Lord came and woke him up, and told him to eat and drink.

After consuming this heavenly provision, he travelled 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb.

Beersheba to Mt Horeb - 420km

Observations of and Applications to Elijah's Plight

Elijah's Fear

• Real but not rational
• Elijah did spectacular feats
• Raised widow's son in Zaraphath
• Won contest against Baal's 450 prophets
• Held back rain and prayed for rain to pour

Psa. 56:3-6

3. Yahweh's Presence

• "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
• "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of Hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away."
• "Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord"

Not in the wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire, but in "the sound of a low whisper".

• qol demamah daqqah

Challenge

• Don’t let down your spiritual guard
• God will never let you down: He’s always there for you
• Remedy for burnt out is not cessation from work but more work commissioned by God
• God will always show up—but not according to human terms
• Don’t go looking for God in all the wrong places at wrong times with wrong motives
• Whatever situation you may be in, keep these truths before your eyes:
• God's hand is never too short to reach down to us.
• His ears are never too clogged to hear us
• His eyes are never too heavy to open and watch us
• He is a present help in times of need and trouble
• He's a shelter in the time of storm