Why are you here?

“And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?” - 1 Kings 19v9

It is almost hard to believe that someone who had as great a victory could fall so quickly into a state of depression. Yet, when Queen Jezebel threatened to kill him for killing Baal’s prophets he ran and hid under a juniper tree where he slept and would not eat. An angel appeared and made him eat, but he went back to sleep. He was locked in the depths of depression.

Finally, “the word of the Lord” came to Elijah and said, “Why are you here Elijah?” Elijah had allowed his despair to defeat him. He was so caught up in his circumstances that he forgot that God was in control. He was guilty of walking by sight and not by faith. He totally forgot the mighty power that God had just showed him at Mt Carmel.

We might look at Elijah and say, “How could he do this? How could he see God work, then run in fear?” Yet, we often do the exact same thing. God does something great for us, we ride on the crest, then the next time something happens we get discouraged and spiritually go to sleep.
When that happens we need to take to heart the words that God gave to Elijah – “Why are you here? Its time to get up and get something done!”