Why Are You Here?
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Introduction
Introduction
Do you remember the “Where’s Waldo” books? These books are iconic books of a man in a red-and-white striped shirt hiding in a crowd. The object of the book is to find Waldo hiding away. As a kid I loved looking for Waldo! In fact, I have the 30th anniversary book in my office today. You will find Waldo in all kinds of crazy places. When I often found Waldo, I would think to myself why are you there, Waldo? What was that artist thinking? Where’s Wally/Waldo book where first published in the UK in 1987 but they have now sold all over the world and over 50 million copies sold and they are still going strong.
In our text today, Elijah falls into a deep valley of fear and despair, but God brings him up into a cave and asks Elijah, “What doest thou here, Elijah?”
That is the question I want you to think about as we go through this message.
What Motivates you? What makes you get out of bed in the morning?
Waldo was in that weird place because the designer wanted him to be there. Where does the designer want you today?
God is calling you out today, why are you here?
Before we get into the text as a way of bring us up to speed with Elijah’s story. Elijah in chapter 18 challenges the prophets of Baal.
The Baal mentioned in the Bible was a universal fertility god and a storm god associated with bringing rain and dew in the Canaan area.
As you may know the story of mount caramel. Elijah says, whoever’s god can bring down fire on this altar is the one true God. As you imagine the prophets of Baal couldn’t do it. Then Elijah prays and calls down the fire. Then He orders the prophets of Baal killed and it rains and we come into chapter 19. Elijah had just experienced a mountain top experience. What a great victory for God.
But Elijah now has come down from Mount Caramel when he receives word that Jezebel wants to kill him. Ahab being the manly guy he is goes and tells his wife what had just happened. Jezebel was upset because Elijah had ordered the prophets of Baal to be killed. This is the most extreme of the actions Elijah had done in the last chapter, and the one that would surely spur Jezebel to take action. This is evident by Jezebel’s message in verse two of 1 Kings 19.
Elijah then runs again for his life, and lands in a pit of despair. He lay down under the Juniper Tree like Jonah and tells God to take His life. He is done, tired, spent. Maybe that is you tonight. You have grown weary and you have forgotten why you are here. May this message be a reminder to you tonight. That God is able to carry you through your valley. Maybe tonight, you are here and you have no idea what Church is about or really why you are here. God has a plan for you as well. His will is for you to be saved.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Tonight I simply want to draw two quick points to why are you here. Why we are all here tonight. We are called to love God, and we are commissioned to serve God.
Read: 1 Kings 19:9-18
We Are Called to Love God
We Are Called to Love God
In the middle of Elijah’s fear and despair God brings him up to mount Horeb and into a cave. There God calls and asks Elijah the same question we are asking in this message. “What doest thou here, Elijah?”
Something I have observed, is that people will do the things they really want to do. I know how profound. When you run into church members you haven’t seen in awhile, they always have an excuse to why they have’t been in church. But if they really wanted to be here, they would. We say we didn’t have time to be in church after work on Wednesday night but we never seem to miss the ball game we wanted to watch. What is the difference? It’s the question God asked Elijah, Why are you here?
So, why are you here? Why do you come to church? Why do you read the Bible? Why do you pray? Is it because you love God? or to fill a quota?
God is calling you out today, why are you here?
You are here to love God. Jesus said Himself we are to love God first and foremost.
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
We are to love God. Are you here today because you love God? Or is there another reason? Sometimes though, we can be like Elijah and have some delusional expectations of God.
Delusional Expectations of God
Delusional Expectations of God
And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
Maybe like Elijah you are in the middle of fear and despair and you believe you are alone. To be in the valley like Elijah was is a lonely place to be. We may not come out and say it but we often think,”no one else has ever gone through this valley before.
On May 24, 1965, a 13½ foot boat slipped quietly out of the marina at Falmouth, Massachusetts. It would be the smallest craft ever to make the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to England. The Tinkerbelle was piloted by Robert Manry, a copy editor for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, who felt that 10 years at the desk was enough boredom for a while. So he took a leave of absence to fulfill his secret dream.
Manry was afraid—not of the ocean, but if many knew what he going to do, they would try to talk him out of the trip. So he didn’t share it, just some relatives and especially his wife Virginia.
The trip was not pleasant; he spent nights of sleeplessness trying to cross shipping lanes without getting run over and sunk. Weeks at sea caused his food to become tasteless. Loneliness—that age-old monster of the deep—led to terrifying nights at sea. His rudder broke 3 times. Storms swept him overboard, and had it not been for the rope he had tied around his waist, he would never have been able to pull himself back on board. Finally, after 78 days alone at sea, he sailed into Cornwall, England.
During those nights, he had wondered about what he would do once he arrived. He expected simply to check into a hotel, eat dinner alone, then the next morning see if, perhaps, the Associated Press might be interested in his story. Was he in for a surprise! Word of his approach had spread far and wide. To his amazement, 300 vessels, with horns blasting, escorted Tinkerbelle into port. And 40,000 people stood screaming and cheering him to shore.
Robert Manry, the copy editor turned dreamer, became an overnight hero. His story has been told around the world.
But Being alone in this world is difficult. Being alone without Christ is unbearable!
Many who go through valley’s and trails and believe as Elijah and Robert in the midst of the sea, that they are completely alone.
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: Be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
You are not alone. God is with you and you have a body of believers in the church who can help and encourage you through it.
God’s response to Elijah is simply a gentle reminder that we was not alone. God corrects and restores Elijah instead of rebuking and condemning.
God’s Correction and Restoration of our Passion to Seek Him
God’s Correction and Restoration of our Passion to Seek Him
If we allow God to work in the midst or our trails, if we look past our problems and look to the Lord. He will bring restoration.
It is easy in the middle of trials to give up. To just say God must not love me, or He has left me alone. It is easy to say what Elijah and Jonah said, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.” (1 Kings 19:4).
It is easy to just quit. Do you know that kid on the ball field that always quits when he starts to lose. Its never fun to lose but it is especially not fun when the kid who acts like that owns the ball. Because he takes the ball and leaves.
Why does he quit? because it became hard. This is often our mentality in life. When it gets hard we look for the easy way out. But if we push through, if we look to God and allow Him to work he will bring restoration.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; And uphold me with thy free spirit.
Have you fallen away from the Lord, if you have lost your passion to seek Him. He has never left you. God is calling to you today. Telling you that He loves you and that He wants to restore your passion. Will you let Him?
The call then is to look passed your problems, passed your expectations and allow God’s love to restore our Passion to seek Him. Why are you here today? You are here to Love God! Our purpose in life is to love God, to seek Him first. This is the call God placed on Elijah. This is the call for us today.
We see God’s call to love Him, but then we see God commission to serve Him.
We Are Commissioned to Serve God
We Are Commissioned to Serve God
We see in verse 12 the famous words that God spoke in the still small voice. Elijah saw God bring down fire on mount carmel, He saw God stop the rain, He was feed by birds that God sent in the wilderness. It seems here that Elijah expected God to act in some grand way all the time. But God came in the still small voice. God wasn’t in the fire, earthquake, or in the wind.
We something think this way. That if God isn’t acting in a big way, He must not be here at all. But God is just as powerful in the quite moments.
Then we see God ask again “Why are you here?” And again Elijah give the same answer. Elijah not only had a delusional expectations of God, thinking God had left him alone. But we also see that Elijah had a despair of failed results.
Despair of Failed Results
Despair of Failed Results
And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
It is just like us to expect God to act in a certain way, and then to become upset when the results are not what we expected.
We easily put ourselves in despair because the results are not what we wanted. We ask God like a child, “why didn’t you just give me, my way?”
I am reminded of Job 38 where God is basically asking Job if he is God. saying in verse 4
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding.
We, like Elijah get into despair because things didn’t go our way. When we need to remind ourselves we are not God.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.
Again instead of giving up, let God restore you back to having a purpose.
God’s Correction and Restoration of our Purpose in Ministry
God’s Correction and Restoration of our Purpose in Ministry
Someone once said, “If your motto is ‘If at first you don’t succeed try, try again’, don’t try sky diving!”
But God says to Elijah, “Go.” May we be more like Florence Nightingale who said, “I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took an excuse.”
We have seen how easy it was for Elijah to go from this mountain top experience to the low valley of despair. As a result of Elijah’s delusional expectations and the seemingly failed results, Elijah is ready to quit.
Maybe this is where you are today. You think in life, things haven’t gone your way. So, you are ready to quit.
God is calling today, don’t quit keep going.
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Keep going, don’t quit, don’t give up on God. Allow him to restore your passion to seek Him and restore your purpose in service to Him.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Why are you here? To love God.
This message isn’t about giving for I believe it fits here, Where is your treasure? what do you value most? Because Matthew tells us in:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Is your treasure in the things of the Lord? Have you allowed it to slip to something else in our world. What do you value most? That is where your heart is today.
If you came today, not knowing Christ as your Saviour. If you came not sure where you will go after this life let me ask you. Why are you here? The answer is the same as everyone who has already trusted in Christ. It is to love God. But that is impossible if you have never placed your faith in Jesus Christ.
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
If you simply call out to Him today you too can be saved and have a home in heaven. You too can know what it is like to love God.
In moment we are going to stand and allow you a change to come forward and trust Christ. Why don’t you come? Why are you here, if not to trust Christ?
Christian why are you here? Come forward tonight and let God restore your passion to seek Him and purpose in ministry.