GracePoint Church, Kikuyu. Sermon – 30th March 2025
Passage: 1 Kings 19: 1- 21.
Big Idea: God’s people find their hope in God through the hard seasons of life in God’s gracious provisions of prayer, rest, His word and His work.
Introduction: The journey of the believer is full of many difficulties. Pain and suffering is the daily experience of those who follow Christ. Indeed, we might be living out John 16:33 which says – in this world you will have many sorrows. As we are gathered here this morning it may well be that you are going through particularly hard times. For some it may be grief – indeed, some among us have known the pain of losing loved ones in the recent past. For others, it may be anxiety about the future – things don’t seem to be working out as we had hoped or planned and you are beginning to feel stuck and not making progress. For others, it may be the pain of betrayal – from friends, family or significant others in our lives – let down by those that you may have confided in – deep pain as you watch a relationship you have really struggled for, crumble before your very eyes. For others the pain is physical – sickness in your body or in your wider family. Perhaps you have a patient to look after at the end of this service. Pain and suffering seems to be our daily reality – from frustration at work to difficulties in marriage, parenting, the list could go on and on. The question then is – what resources do you have for the hard times? Where do you draw strength when the times are tough?
The passage we are looking at today shows us a different side of Elijah. From the man who was praying fervently and stopping the rains, raising the dead, contesting with the prophets of Baal and calling fire from heaven, to having rain restored in the land. Now we see a man who is running away – afraid of Jezebel and giving up on life and ministry. Let us follow the story and draw out the lessons that this passage has for us this morning. We shall do that in four sections:
- Fight, Flight or Freeze: Ahab reports to Jezebel about the great slaughter of her priests and she fumes, issuing death threats on Elijah: Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” I am not sure what your reaction would be if you received a death warrant within 24 hours from Jezebel. You see, you would have thought that Elijah would be celebrated in Israel, especially after that heavy rain but no. He is now a wanted fugitive who must run for dear life. Verse 3 gives us his response: Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. The great prophet Elijah is afraid. Friends – even the best among us is, at best, a man (human), subject to fear and natural responses to threats – fight, flee or freeze.
Dear saint, watch your perspective. There is so much talk about being brave, that many are ashamed when they are afraid. We need to have a right perspective of ourselves – Psalm 103: 14 tells us that we are like dust, like a flower of the field. We are small, weak and often lacking in wisdom. We are going through bereavement in the church family at the moment and one of the things that death reminds us is our own mortality. Psalm 56:3 talks of ‘when I am afraid’ – we are those who get afraid -the question is – where do we look when we are afraid.
2. Desperate plea. The prophet is now on the run for his life. Yet it is worth noting that he ran to Beersheba – a historically significant location which was in Judah. A journey of about 160 KMs. Elijah leaves his servant behind and goes further into isolation – takes a day’s journey into the wilderness and sits down under a broom tree. He seems to have come to the lowest point in his ministry and asks that he might die. “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” Here is a man who seems to have come to the end of the road. He feels that his contribution does not matter – his ministry did not turn people from idols and now he is running for his life. And here he is laying bare his raw emotions before God.
Dear Saint: Run to the Lord in prayer. Our father can handle your frustration, he listens to our desperate pleas and even our less than wise prayers. You see, prayer is one the means of grace that God has given us in our journey. We can come to the Lord and let him know all about our difficulties, we can lay down our burdens, our fears and shortcomings before him. Think of the words of Irish Hymn writer Joseph Scriven’s song: What a friend we have in Jesus.
Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer!
Can we find a friend so faithful, who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer!
Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge- take it to the Lord in prayer!
Do thy friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In his arms he’ll take and shield you; thou will find a solace there.
3. Practical Help. What happens after that is worth our notice; He falls asleep under the broom tree. An angel wakes him up to eat: bread and water – which seems to have been his favorite food. He sleeps again, we are not told for how long. The angel wakes him to eat again and reminds him the journey ahead is too much for him. He woke up on the strength of that meal and went to Horeb (Sinai), the mountain of God, a journey of 40 days.
Providentially, there was a broom tree under which Elijah rested and then fell asleep. Here is a man who had come from an intense contest with false prophets and is now on the run. He desperately needed to rest. Twice in this section he will fall asleep. You see, sleep reminds us of our weakness – we can’t keep going on and on forever (don’t believe that Energizer bunny advert or that Red Bull advert). We need to pause, stop and recharge our batteries.
Brothers and sisters – let us prioritize good, quality sleep. We are living in stressful times and to make it worse, we are not sleeping well. We are a distracted lot – the enemy has kept us busy and distracted from the things that truly matter. Yet one of the means of refreshment and renewal that our father has graciously given us is sleep (Psalm 127: 2) A lot of what people are calling mental health difficulties nowadays (and I am not minimizing any of it), has been shown to be dealt with by good, quality sleep. The first thing they do to any mental health patient is to get them to sleep. I pray that we can be those who organize our personal, church, social and family life in such a way that we have the opportunity for good quality sleep every night.
Secondly, you will notice that the angel gives him food. Behold, a cake baked on hot coals and a jar of water. Just what he needed after such a long journey. Elijah seemed to enjoy his bread ( we know that from his encounter with the ravens and his request to the widow of Zarephath) and now, far south in the desert, an angel has brought him bread and water. This is repeated again and he gains strength for a 40 day journey in the wilderness. The man is now revived and ready to go to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Dear Saint, praise God for good food. It seems what the man of God needed at this point is a good meal and he will be good to go. A lot of ministry – I have found, tends to be around food. Food reminds us of our father’s provision, connects us together when we share together as a family or with friends and refreshes us. We must however stay away from the extremes of too much to eat (gluttony) or too little (anorexia) and receive food/drinks in moderation and with thanksgiving in our hearts.
4. The Lord speaks. Elijah comes to a Cave in Mt. Horeb and behold: the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” In other words, why are you here? His answer, which he repeats in verse 10 and 14 speaks of the anguish in his soul – “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.” He feels alone, burned out and threatened.
The Lord asks him to stand on the Mount before him and there follows three signs – great and strong wind, earthquake and fire but the Lord was not in any of those. This was then followed by a voice of a low whisper – still small voice (KJV) and the Lord asks him – what are you doing here Elijah? He repeats his answer and instead of correction or judgement he is sent back to work: Return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus – anoint two kings and get an assistant. Through this, he is reminded that there will be judgement for idol worshippers, and that there are many who have not worshipped Baal. Elijah, in obedience to God’s word leaves the mountain, returns to the north and calls Elisha to follow him.
Dear Saint, Listen to God’s Word. You see, God spoke to Elijah even in that moment of doubt and despair. He calls him to Horeb, a significant place where God gave His word to Moses and speaks to him in a still small voice. Allow me to observe that it is easy to think that we are hearing God’s voice when we see miraculous demonstrations of wind, earthquake and fire – he can and he has used such means before – but on this occasion he used the sound of a low whisper. Ordinary, conversation level whisper is what is ministered to Elijah, all the way in Horeb. And what did the Lord say to him? Go back to your mission – you are a prophet. Anoint two kings and a prophet to continue your ministry. The Lord ministers hope through His word.
You see, God has given us his word to equip us for the journey ahead. We do not have to look down in shame or sorrow, we do not have to look inwards for an inner voice but we can look upwards and pay attention to God’s word. Listen to what Apostle in 2 Peter 1:16-21;
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
And this word, equips us for God’s work. You see, Elijah is not sent to terminal leave but actually back to the field. He is sent right back into the field and as we will see in the coming chapters, the work continues. You see God has ordained work as the means through which he would give us purpose (meaning) and provision for our daily bread. Jesus said in John 9:4 “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.”
Dear Saint, Go back to work. Brother and sisters, we must continue working and delighting in our labours. Part of the reason many of us are anxious is just that we are not doing productive work – and by productive I don’t mean financially profitable but all work, done to the glory of God. Work is good and was ordained before the fall. So get back to work tomorrow – with a spring in your step, the Lord has called you to that office or business or home to serve his purpose – for your good and to His glory.
Conclusion: So we close today’s sermon where we started – what resources do you have for the hard times? Where are you looking when the going gets tough?
Our gracious father has given us means of grace to help us in our times of need. He has given us Prayer, Rest/Refreshment, His word (the gospel) and His work. And we ought delight in these things together as a community. We have each other brothers and sisters – you don’t have to face it all alone, reach out to a friend, reach out to one another, seek audience with the elders of the church, pray, get some sleep, get some food, get some assistant, listen and obey God’s word to continue in His work. The work is the Lord’s and it will continue well beyond your time and mine.
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16: 33
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Harrison Mungai M
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