Not alone

Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. – 1 Kings 19.18-19

So God came and talked to Elijah in that still small voice. No noise, not lights, no fireworks, just a still small voice.

And in that still small voice God reminded Elijah that no matter how he felt he was not alone. God had seven thousand men in Israel who were going to stand won't Elijah.

Those men were there all along. Elijah felt alone because he was all he saw. But God had a mighty army that he didn’t see.

There are some places of ministry where it is easy to feel alone. As we struggle along in our small communities we can feel like we are the only ones around who can stand for God. We can be so overwhelmed by the opposition that we, like Elijah, can be ready to give up.

But no matter how dark and lonely we feel we need to remember that thus church lives on and thievery gates of hell will not prevail. There are Christians like us all over the world standing for Christ and sharing their faith and loving and caring for others.

Elijah’s problem was that he got focused on himself and his woes and threw his own little pity party. That’s natural – but instead of looking to God he dwelt in that despair and lost all hope. That's where we have to turn it around and remember God’s promises and realise that we are not alone.

Then we need to get up and get busy.