If the Lord be God, Focus on Him

Introduction

If the Lord Be God

Focus on Him

When we come , Elijah has just come down off of Mt. Carmel. The Lord had sent rain and strengthened Elijah to run 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Mt. Carmel to Jezreel. Elijah has just had a mountain top experience. He had seen God answer two major prayers and been used of God to win a major victory in the hearts of the children of Israel. After a long and exhausting day, Elijah is finally in a place that he can rest…or so it seemed.

Text:

Introduction: When we come , Elijah has just come down off of Mt. Carmel. The Lord had sent rain and strengthened Elijah to run 25 miles from Mt. Carmel to Jezreel. Elijah has just had a mountain top experience. He had seen God answer two major prayers and been used of God to win a major victory in the hearts of the children of Israel. After a long and exhausting day, Elijah is finally in a place that he can…or so it seemed.

It’s in chapter 19 that we go from seeing a strong and committed Elijah, to a weak and exhausted Elijah who is ready to quit, not just on the ministry God had called him, but he is also ready to quit on life.

PRAY

Sticky Statement: If the Lord be God, focus on Him.

Sticky Statement: If the Lord be God, focus on Him.

Taking your eyes off of the Lord can lead to you into discouragement and depression. This will lead to many poor decisions.

Taking your eyes off of the Lord can lead to you into discouragement and depression. This will lead to many poor decisions…

a. JOKE: Our first, and most important point today comes from verses 1-3, Be very afraid of an angry woman! I mean, Elijah just took on Ahab and 450 prophets of Baal…and won! But when it came to Jezebel…run, leave, run for your life!

b. Elijah had just faced off against Ahab and the prophets of Baal, 1 on 450+¸ and wasn’t afraid.

c. When He hears Jezebel’s threat, he is terrified. He takes off running and doesn’t stop until he reaches Beersheba, the southernmost town in ancient Judah.

d. For the last 3-1/2 years, Elijah had trusted God through his time at Cherith, Zarephath, and Mt. Carmel, but now he is running for his life.

1. Temiendo por Tu Vida (3)

e. What different? He took his eyes off of the Lord; He took his focus off of the Lord and instead focused on his problems.

1. Temiendo por Tu Vida (3)

2. Rechazar a los que se Preocupan (3)

2. Rechazar a los que se Preocupan (3)

b. At the end of verse 3, we’re told that upon arriving at Beersheba, Elijah left his servant there.

c. From this, we can assume that Elijah has had a servant with at least through the most recent events at Mt. Carmel, but likely since before the Brook Cherith.

3. Pensamientos Suicidas (4)

d. This servant had been faithfully at Elijah’s side and had been through everything with Elijah. He had seen how had provided at the Brook Cherith. He saw how God provided in Zarephath. He saw God reveal His power at Mt. Carmel. He saw God answer Elijah’s prayers over and over again.

e. I wonder what the conversation was between the two of them from Jezreel to Beersheba. Was the servant trying to get Elijah to remember who His God was? Was he just as afraid?

2. Rechazar a los que se Preocupan (3)

f. Regardless, there was support. It was someone to lean on. It was someone that could help.

g. But for Elijah, in his discouragement and depression, he left behind the one human person that could help.

3. Pensamientos Suicidas (4)

b. A day’s journey is equal to 10-15 miles on foot and sits down under a juniper tree (also known as a broom tree). PICTURE

c. These were common in the desert lands of Israel.

d. Elijah sits down under this tree, now all alone, and asked the Lord to take his life.

3. Pensamientos Suicidas (4)

e. His reason, “I am not better than my fathers.” He is suggesting “that he was no more successful than his forefathers in ousting Baal-worship from Israel.”[1]

f. But this was clearly not true. He had just been successful in showing who the Lord really is and had 450 prophets of Baal killed.

g. But it’s the moments that we get our eyes off of the Lord and onto self that we become the evaluator and judger of our success.

h. It was when Elijah felt all alone, unsuccessful, and afraid of tomorrow, that the wish to die entered his mind.

i. Friends, let me remind you, you’re never alone.

j. In the very next verse, Elijah was reminded that God was still there and still cared for him when He sent an angel to bring him food. This is now the third time God has providentially provided food for Elijah.

4. No Cuidar de Ti Mismo (5-7)

4. No Cuidar de Ti Mismo (5-7)

b. Often, we get our focus off of the Lord, we neglect to care for ourselves in even the most basic of ways.

c. We practice poor hygiene, we don’t eat right, or as in Elijah’s case, we don’t eat at all.

d. It was in this moment that God sent an angel to remind Elijah that he was not alone and that God would provide for him just as he had at Cherith and Zarephath.

e. But even this didn’t really get Elijah’s attention. His attitude did not change. He ate the food and went back to sleep. The angel comes a second time, bringing more food and water and tells Elijah to eat because he has a long journey ahead of him.

f. Elijah eats and leaves on his journey but would not have made it had God not providentially provided for him.

5. Enojado con los Demas (10)

5. Enojado con los Demas (10)

b. The word jealous can refer to a jealous anger. He was angry at Israel for rejecting God. He was jealous on God’s behalf.

c. Often, when we get our focus off of God and onto self, we’ll end up taking on other people’s problems as if they were our own.

d. This wasn’t Elijah’s burden to carry. He was to do as God instructed. He was the spokesperson for God to Israel yet he felt he needed to be angry for God.

e. His focus was so out of line, that it appears he had forgotten who God was and what the people had just professed at Mt. Carmel. (see 18:39)

f. When we get our focus off of God and onto our problems, we will often to the same thing and became angry at those we have no reason to be angry with.

6. Sentimientos de Aislamiento (10)

6. Sentimientos de Aislamiento (10)

b. “I, event I only, am left.” Lord, I am the only prophet left. I am the only one still standing up for you.

c. We know this not to be true because Elijah had met Obadiah, one who feared God and Elijah had a servant who served God with him. He had also just heard Israel declare that Jehovah was God.

d. However, when he took his focus off of the Lord, he left his servant and thought only of himself and left for the wilderness.

e. God had already sent an angel to provide food and water for him. This should have been a reminder that he was not alone, but Elijah’s focus was on self, not on God and what God had done for him.

f. Elijah’s feeling of isolation was of his own doing.

Transition: When we get our focus off of God and onto our problems, it’s easy for us to: 1) Become afraid, 2) Reject those that care about you, 3) Have suicidal thoughts, 4) Quit caring for yourself, 5) Become angry at others, and 6) Feel all alone.

The Solution

Let’s stop for a minute, and remember where Elijah is. Just over 40 days earlier, Elijah had seen God work in a miraculous way on Mt. Carmel, he gets scared of an angry woman, runs away to Mt. Horeb, leaving his servant behind in Beersheba, and is providentially provided food and water that lasts him for 40 days and 40 nights. This journey was a trip of approximately 640 kilometers.

This journey was a trip of approximately 400 miles.

It’s there at Mt. Horeb, which is another name for Mt. Sinai, that God came to Elijah and gave him exactly what he needed, to see the Lord again.

Elijah had gotten his eyes off of the Lord and gotten as far away from Israel as he could. “Moses and the Israelites had traveled in that wilderness for 40 years, sustained by the manna God had provided for them and learned lessons of His faithful care and provision. Now Elijah would traverse the same desert for 40 days and … nights, sustained by the bread God provided and would learn the same lessons.”[2]

It’s there at Mt. Horeb, which is another name for Mt. Sinai, that God came to Elijah and gave him exactly what he needed, to see the Lord again.

1 Kings 19:11-13

“Standing on the mountainside outside his cave (cf. v. 9) Elijah witnessed what Moses had seen in those mountains centuries before () and what he himself had seen on Mount Carmel only a few days earlier (, ), namely, a spectacular demonstration of the power of God, this time in wind, an earthquake, and fire. But on this occasion the Lord was not in any of these, that is, they were not His instruments of self-revelation.”[3]

The Lord reminded Elijah of his great power, but Elijah seemed not to be phased by these. He sees God’s demonstration of His power and then returns to his cave.

It wasn’t until Elijah heard the still small voice of God that he responded and left the cave humbly with his face covered. It’s then that God tells Elijah, I am not finished with you yet. I still have work for you to do (). It’s after that, that God addresses Elijah’s statement that he is all alone and God says, Elijah, I have 7,000 in Israel that have not bowed the knee to Israel.

Conclusion

Conclusion: What was the problem here? Elijah had gotten his focus off of the Lord and onto his problems. When he focused on his problems, he became discouraged and depressed, quit on God, and wanted to quit on life.

What was the problem here? Elijah had gotten his focus off of the Lord and onto his problems. When he focused on his problems, he became discouraged and depressed, quit on God, and wanted to quit on life.

But God had a reminder for him, “If the Lord be God, focus on Him.”

This is the same exhortation God wants us to hear; If the Lord be God, focus on Him. Let’s get our focus off of our problems and onto our Lord. Your problems are never too big for your God. Take the time today to stop focusing on your problems and instead listen for the still small voice of God that is calling out to you today.

If the Lord be God, focus on Him!

[1] Constable, T. L. (1985). 1 Kings. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 528). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

[2] Constable, T. L. (1985). 1 Kings. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 528). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

[3] Constable, T. L. (1985). 1 Kings. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 528). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.