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!! I’ve Had Enough
!! TEXT: I Kings 19:1-14
*INTRODUCTION:* Elijah the prophet wanted to die.
He asked God to take his life because he had come to the conclusion that he was a failure.
Elijah had just been victorious in the showdown with the 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.
God had sent fire down from heaven to consume Elijah’s sacrifice (see I Kings 18:17-40).
In addition, the prophet had predicted a terrible famine, and the Lord had not sent rain for three years.
After that time, Elijah prayed for rain, and God produced a torrential downpour (see vv. 41-46).
God was working mightily through His servant Elijah.
This made him very unpopular with Ahab and Jezebel, the wicked king and queen of Israel.
*Read* *I Kings 19:1-3*
When Elijah heard Jezebel’s death threat, he fled for his life.
He traveled about 100 miles from Jezreel down to Beersheba, located along the outer border of Israel.
Considering all the powerful works the Lord had just performed through Elijah, it is hard to understand why the prophet didn’t stay and face Jezebel, trusting God to protect him.
Instead, he fled into the wilderness and requested to die.
Elijah had quite an experience, didn’t he.
1.
He was terribly discouraged.
2.
He had remained faithful in proclaiming God’s message, yet the only result, as far as he could see, was a threat on his life.
3.
He believed that he was the only faithful person left.
Like so many other great leaders, Elijah requested that he be allowed to die rather than go on as he had been.
When his burden had seemed too great to carry, Moses had also asked God to take his life.
(cf Num.
11:11-15).
Likewise, Jonah preferred to die rather than watch the Ninevites repent and be spared by God (cf Jonah 4:3).
Jeremiah cursed the day of his birth (cf Jer.
20:14-18), as did Job (cf Job 3:1-16).
These were all great men of God, yet even at their greatest, they were still men.
James 5:17 tells us that Elijah possessed the human nature, with its problems, into account (one that is subject to the same emotions) as we have.
These examples should be a reminder for us not to place any preacher or Christian worker on a pedestal.
If we do, we should always make sure we look at their feet-not their face.
When we do we will find that they also have feet of clay.
Every man at his best is still a man, and they will fail.
Some of the greatest people in the Bible failed in their strongest points.
a. Moses, the meek and humble servant, became proud and boastful.
b.
Abraham, the great man of faith, doubted God and lied about his wife.
c.
Peter, a courageous man, became fearful and denied the Lord three times.
When he became depressed and discouraged, Elijah reacted as most people do-he sought release from his troubles through death.
However, God refused to answer his prayer.
Instead, the Lord provided the physical nourishment and spiritual encouragement that he needed to go on.
Why did God choose not to answer Elijah’s prayer?
In this passage we find several important factors that help us understand why God responded as He did to Elijah.
He evaluates our prayers in similar manner determining whether or not to answer them.
!
I. God Looked Behind Elijah.
!! A. Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel had been spiritually, physically and emotionally demanding on him.
!!! 1. His life had been in danger.
!!! 2. We all know that when we are tired, hungry and emotionally drained, we become discouraged.
!!! 3. In this mental state, we often say things we don’t really mean.
!!! 4. The Lord understands our human nature.
!!! 5.
He loves us and knows what is best for us--even when we don’t.
!! B. There are some things for us to remember about the Lord when He is considering our requests.
!!! 1. God takes our human nature, with its problems, into account when considering our requests.
!!! 2. He often refuses to give us what we ask for.
!!! 3.
He knew that Elijah’s request was motivated by his physical, mental and emotional exhaustion, not by a genuine desire to die.
!!! 4. So God did not answer Elijah’s prayer, instead, He gave the prophet what he really needed.
!!!! a) The Lord sent an angel to minister to his physical needs, providing food and water.
!!!! b) Then God directed Elijah to Mount Horeb, where He reminded the prophet of His great power.
!!!! c) This renewed Elijah’s faith and spiritual strength and prepared him to go back and face his enemies.
*1 Kings 19:15-19*
!
II.God Looked Within Elijah.
!! A. He saw that the real problem wasn’t Jezebel and her threats, it was a heart problem.
!!! 1. Elijah’s heart was filled with unbelief.
!!! 2. When he received the message that Jezebel was going to kill him, he fled to the wilderness and cried out, "Lord, take my life."
!!! 3. Obviously, Elijah didn’t really want to die.
!!!! a) If he had, he would have stayed where he was and let Jezebel take care of it!
!!!! b) Likewise, I don’t think Jezebel really wanted to kill Elijah.
!!! 4.
She threatened him in an effort to frighten him off.
!!!! a) Elijah had just won a great victory against the false prophets of Baal.
!!!! *b) *When the people had seen God’s power in consuming the sacrifice, they had cried out/, "The Lord, he is the God/" *I Kings 18:39.
*
!!!! c) Jezebel feared that Elijah would start a great revival, preaching to the people and leading them back to God.
!!!! d) By running away, Elijah gave Jezebel exactly what she wanted.
!! B. He saw that Elijah was walking by sight, not by faith.
!!! 1.
When Jezebel heard about everything the prophet had done, she said, /"I will take care of you"/ *19:2*
!!! 2. We then read in the next verse/: "And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life"/ *19:3*.
!!! 3. Instead of trusting God to take care of him, Elijah looked at the circumstances and ran in fear.
!!! 4. He ran ahead of God rather than waiting for the Lord to reveal His will to him.
*Isaiah 28:16*
!! C.
He saw a heart filled unbelief, impatience, pride and self-pity.
!!! 1.
The prophet seemed to be more concerned about his reputation than he was about his ministry.
!!! 2. In addition, self-pity moved in.
!!!! a) Elijah felt sorry for himself.
!!!! b) He had worked so hard, but all he had received in return was hatred.
!!!! c) So he decided to protect himself instead of doing the work of God.
!!!! d) *Matthew 10:39*, /"He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."/
!!! 3. Instead of trusting God and staying to face Jezebel, Elijah fled to the wilderness, where he wallowed in self-pity.
!!! 4. He was discouraged and alone.
!!!! a) When you are very discouraged, you should never spend a lot of time alone.
!!!! b) It only breeds more depression and self-pity.
!!! 5. In the wilderness God instructed Elijah to meet Him on Mount Horeb, located about 200 miles away.
!!!! a) This is the same place Moses had talked with God.
!!!! b) It took Elijah 40 days to travel there.
!!!! c) Normally the trip didn’t take that long; thus, Elijah must have wandered around in the wilderness for some time, sulking and disobeying God’s orders to go.
!!! 6. On Mount Horeb, God told the prophet, in effect, "Elijah, the whole problem is you have your eyes on people.
You don’t have your eyes on Me."
!! D. God looked within Elijah and saw a heart filled with unbelief, impatience, pride and self-pity.
!!! 1.
He saw that Elijah was walking by sight, not by faith.
!!! 2. The prophet had his eyes on Jezebel, on the backsliders in Israel and on himself instead of on the Lord.
!!! 3.
He needed a change of heart...not an end to his life.
!
III.
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