What Are You Doing?

Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

- 1 Kings 19:13

Have you ever had a super fantastic week? You’ve done a great job at work – nailed a presentation or report to your peers/boss. At home, you ahead in all your chores, all the bills are paid, and the house and yard are super clean. You’re super friendly to strangers, surprise your spouse/kids with a small token of affection or act of kindness, and even took the dog for extra walks. I mean even traffic is nonexistent during this seemingly perfect week. You think to yourself – man, I’ve nailed things this week – it’s been so awesome. Then the next week is the exact opposite. You’re behind in a report that’s due. You are short with your coworkers because of the stress. You’ve not gotten around to your house work and your chores are starting to pile up. You forgot an important event with your spouse/kids. You’ve gotten into a fight with your best friend. A stranger snapped at your in the grocery store so you snapped back. Traffic is horrible and you haven’t even had time to take the dog for one walk. Because of this terrible experience, you sit alone in your room or back porch or you go for a long drive to to decompress and wallow in how bad the week has been. You wonder to yourself – how can this week be so bad if last week was so perfect. You think – no one has ever had week like this before? How am I supposed to face another week if it is going to be this bad? This happens to us as Christians in our spiritual walk as well. We have a period of time of really great Bible study, praying, and we feel closer to God than we have in ages. We’ve talked to others about the Lord and even invited several to have a Bible study. But, soon the follow ups turn into nos and expressions of disinterest. Instead of seeing potential opportunities for growth in God’s kingdom all we see is wickedness. We don’t understand and think what’s the point and we begin to lose focus in our study and prayer life. Subsequently, that closeness to God is gone and we just hear the silence. We’ve all been there – the highs and lows of life. We aren’t alone in that experience either.

Elijah is one of my favorite Bible characters. We don’t know much about Elijah. He appears in 1 Kings 17 and seven chapters later in 2 Kings 2 he is gone. Yet, in those chapters are some of the most amazing stories of the Old Testament. Elijah, the Tishbite, just pops up in 1 Kings 17 proclaiming a drought for the Lord. In the short story Elijah declares a drought has begun (a clear affront to the god of Baal who was believed to be the god of dew and rain) and then God takes care of him by sending ravens to feed him at the Brook Cherith. Wherever Elijah went, the judgment and power of God was showcased. One of the awe-inspiring stories in the Bible is the duel between Elijah and the prophets of Baal for whose God was the one true God. At Mt. Carmel, God sends his own fire down from heaven to devour the entire alter Elijah had built to him – even the water is vaporized. Elijah alone stood against the might of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel and all their prophets of Baal. Elijah stood for God when no one else would and God used his bravery to show His awesome power. (Elijah was never really alone stop Mt. Carmel.) Through God’s power, Elijah had raised the dead and performed miracles. Elijah was a force to behold. Ahab referred to him as “the troubler of Israel” (1 Kings 18: 17 – 18) and King Ahaziah knew him just by a brief description given to him by his servant (2 Kings 1: 8). Elijah was so impressive God sent his own fiery chariot down from heaven to take Elijah back as a reward for his righteous devotion to God. Elijah doesn’t even die. It’s no wonder of all the prophets, it is Elijah chosen to represent them to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration later in the New Testament. In all those amazing stories, it is easy to forget that Elijah was still a man. He knew the realities of the highs and lows of life. Let’s look at the story of Elijah and his Spiritual lows.

Immediately following Elijah and the Lord’s victory at Mount Carmel. Elijah executed over 800 prophets of Baal. Due to his actions, Elijah became a wanted man especially by the evil Queen Jezebel. We read in 1 Kings 19 that Jezebel sent a message to Elijah in which she openly stated her plans to kill him. So, naturally upon receiving news of his impending assassination – Elijah fled. He fled into the wilderness. There he prayed “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” (1 Kings 19:4). Elijah was clearly beside himself. Frustrated and scared, Elijah cries out to God to just take his life. Enough is enough. He fell asleep alone in the wilderness only to be awakened by an angel. The Angel had brought him food and water. He ate it and went back to sleep. Again, the Angel returned and gave him more food and water. This time the Angel did not leave him to his wallowing and instead said, “Arise and eat because the journey is too great for you.” What journey? Apparently Elijah was to travel 40 days and 40 nights to Mt. Horeb – the mountain of God. (There’s an entire other lesson about spiritual lows and the journey Elijah has make here. In order to overcome them, Elijah has to make a hard journey but that journey led him back to God.) When Elijah finally makes it to the mountain, he found a cave and spent the night in the cave. While hiding in this cave, the word of the God first came to him “What are you doing here, Elijah? To which Elijah answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life (vs. 10).” God then told Elijah to leave the cave and go stand on the mountain before Him. When Elijah goes outside, a great wind rips through the mountain but God said nothing. Then, a great earthquake shook the mountain but God still said nothing. Then, a great fire appeared on the mountain but again God said nothing. But then, after these great acts of God’s power over nature, Elijah heard a soft small whisper back in the cave “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah responded to God in the exact same way. This time the Lord gave Elijah very specific instructions which started with the word “Go.” God ended his instructions to Elijah by reminding Elijah he was in fact not alone but that 7000 people had yet to bend the knee to Baal and still served God. After listening to God, what did Elijah do? The Bible simply says, “He departed from there…(1 Kings 19:19).”

I find this exchange between God and Elijah so fascinating. Here is Elijah – God’s great champion hiding in a cave on the Mountain of God. He only got there with the help of God who sent at angel to him to give him food and water. Once he gets there, he immediately finds a cave and hides. It is so interesting that throughout the Psalms, David repeatedly says that those who trust in the Lord take refuge in Him and here is Elijah quite literally taking refuge in the Mountain of God. David promises that those who take refuge in God – God will serve as their shield and protector. God does exactly this. Elijah is upset, scared, and in a very low place. He believes he is the only one left serving God. – I alone am left – is what he says to God. Elijah’s just had this great victory for God but the moment bad news struck (and to be fair, for Elijah that bad news was Jezebel was going to hunt him down and kill him) the spiritual highs he felt at Carmel just evaporated. In this exchange, God doesn’t chastise Elijah. Instead, he does the exact opposite. He calls out to Elijah and gently asks, “What are you doing?” He then sends Elijah out to experience all the power of God again. Seemingly as a way to remind Elijah of God’s presence and power. But God’s voice doesn’t come booming out of those intense showings of power – no. God again calls softly in a whisper back to Elijah and gently asks again, “What are you doing?” Once Elijah repeats his answer, God just tells him to get up and go back to work for the Lord. Elijah doesn’t whine or protest or remind God about the death that awaits him if he returns – no. Elijah just departs and does what the Lord told him to do.

God understood Elijah’s emotional stake. He knew Elijah was scared and depressed. So, God cared for Elijah first by sending an angel to feed him and help him through the wilderness. Then God reminded Elijah of God’s power and presence. Finally, instead of harshly telling Elijah to get over it and pull himself together – God gently told Elijah to get up and get back to work. God gave Elijah his mission – go anoint Hazael (king of Syria) and Jehu (king over Israel). God told Elijah to find Elisha. God sent Elijah a friend. God finally told Elijah he was not alone serving God. He did not face the challenges of the darkness that spread over Israel alone. Elijah listened and obeyed.

Sometimes we get like Elijah (in our cases often we are very vastly more dramatic than Elijah considering a comparison of circumstances). We think we are alone serving God. We hide in our house and ask God to just take us from this evil world. But God has plans for us. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) and “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6). Those plans are simple. Like Elijah, He wants us to be working for Him not hiding in our cave. It is when we are working that we encounter others working for the Lord. It is when we are working we make friends with the people of God. It is when we are out working that we no longer think about our own problems and focus on what God wants from us. But sometimes we like Elijah find ourselves in that cave. We are human after all. So God helps with us in the same ways he helped Elijah. Look around you – see God’s power and His presence in this world. Then, carefully listen for his whisper. He is asking you, “What are you doing, here?” So like Elijah – we should simply listen for God, leave our cave, and get back to work.