Come out of the cave
Susan CombsSUMMARY:
The story of Elijah challenging the prophets of Baal in First Kings 18 is a well-known one. Elijah sets up a competition to see who is the true God, and after the prophets of Baal fail to bring fire to their altar, Elijah prays to the Lord and fire falls from heaven. This sets the scene for a national revival, but in the next chapter, when Jezebel threatens Elijah's life, he runs away in fear. He ends up in the wilderness, feeling broken and wanting to die. But God shows him tenderness, physically taking care of him and restoring his soul. When God asks him what he's doing there, Elijah responds by blaming everyone else for his situation. The lesson is that even great heroes of the faith can falter and run away, but God is always there to restore and care for us.
The story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19 teaches us not to blame others for our problems and to be open and honest with God. When Elijah was in the cave and God asked him what he was doing there, Elijah blamed others for his situation. But God responded to Elijah with tenderness and a gentle whisper, showing that He wants an intimate relationship with His people. If you have been blaming others for your problems, it's time to take responsibility for your actions and ask God for forgiveness. Additionally, if you are in a difficult situation, don't give up and run away. Instead, be courageous and trust that God has a purpose for you in that place.First Kings 18, you may be familiar with the story. It deals with the prophet Elijah challenging the prophets of Baal during a time when the people of Israel had left worshiping Jahweh and where worshiping idols instead. So Elijah sets up a competition, a challenge to the prophets of Baal. He says, now we’ll see who is the true God, and you can set up your own altar for Baal and cry to him for fire to be sent from your Baal god on this altar, and I’ll build an altar to the Lord, to Jahweh and I’ll call on his name and we’ll see who answers with fire. And that’s exactly what happens, the prophets of Baal build their altar and they stand all morning and all day, crying out to their god to answer with fire. And then we see Elijah starting to mess with them a little bit, he starts teasing them, he says, “Maybe your god is taking a little nap.”
And then Elijah says, “Okay, enough of that, now it’s my turn.” So he commands them to build the altar to the Lord and we know he cries out to the Lord. So, we will be in First Kings, chapter 18 beginning in verse 36.