DOWNCAST IN THE WILDERNESS

          We’ve all experienced occasional mood swings.  Some can be severe - - like when the Tribe lost game seven of the 2016 World Series to the Cubbies.  Who among us hasn’t felt that sudden descent from a “high” to a “low”?  In 1Kgs.19:1ff, Elijah rapidly goes from the pinnacle to the pit.  Atop Mount Carmel, God had brought victory over Baal; Elijah’s prayers were answered; the false prophets of Baal were slain; the nation of Israel was humbled; and the three-year drought ceased with the return of rain.  It was truly a ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH.  One might assume that King Ahab, weak and wicked those he was, had gone home a changed man, but if so, he failed miserably in “reigning in” his Baal-worshiping wife. 

          When KIng Ahab informed Queen Jezebel she exploded, sending a dire message to Elijah:  you will be dead by this time tomorrow (1Kgs.19:2).  

And (Elijah) was afraid and arose and ran for his life… (1Kgs.19:3).  Even when we factor in his full humanity (Js.5:17), we are perplexed by Elijah’s response.  How could he go from being so high to being so low so fast - - from upbeat to downcast in the blink of an eye?  When we contemplate all that he has been through, he is deserving of our sympathy.  He was physically exhausted (1Kgs.19:5-7).  He also appears to have been disappointed,

discouraged and distraught.  Perhaps he expected a real and robust repentance in the lives of Ahab, Jezebel and all of Israel.  When threatened by Jezebel, Elijah engages in self-pity, focusing on his “aloneness” (1Kgs.18:22 and 19:10 & 14).  Later on, God will set the record straight (1Kgs.19:18).

          What matters most in re-visiting this ancient story is not what we think of Elijah, but how God dealt with him.  Elijah had sat down under a juniper tree and requested of God that he might die (1Kgs.19:4).  Yet God met his servant, Elijah, in his desperate moment of discouragement and despair with mercy at it’s finest.  What a God we serve!  He himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you’, so that we can con-fidently say, THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID.  WHAT SHALL MAN DO TO ME? (Heb.13:6).  Many years earlier, David encapsulated this grand truth in his beloved psalm:  Although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear evil, for YOU are with me {Ps.23:4).

                                                            Terry Siverd / Cortland Church of Christ