Poor little me

So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" So he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for 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." – 1 Kings 19.8-10

Elijah’s depression continued. An angel brought him sustenance. He ate and drank and was strengthened, but he still was in despair. After forty days he found a cave to crawl into and his woes continued.

So ‘the word of the Lord’ (probably a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus) asked him ‘why are you here Elijah.’

Elijah opened his heart – ‘I served the Lord with all my heart. I’ve tried, but the people won’t listen. They have forsaken their commitment to God, the had torn down God’s altars, and they have killed Your servants. Everyone is gone but me.’

How did this happen? He was no more alone now than he was on Mt Carmel. There his aloneness wasn't a problem. He went out and believed God and defeated the false prophets and everything was grand.

I suspect we all know what it is like to feel alone. We don’t have to be alone to be alone. Aloneness is not dependent of the number of people around you. It depends on that horrible feeling of being alone in your particular situation. You can be surrounded and still be alone.

So Elijah had had enough. He still wanted to die. He had turned away from looking at the Lord and instead was looking at himself and his situation.

This poor little me in pity party pit does not please God. Sure we are going to get down and discouraged, but we can’t stay in that pit. We are not alone. We have God on our side – and more as we will see later.