I hope everyone knows the story of Elijah. If not, you really should read it – it’s pretty entertaining! In 1 Kings 17-18, he prays for a drought, then ends up confronting the priests of Baal, and winning a great victory for God. The queen at the time, Jezebel, was very upset when Elijah had all of her priests slain. As we pick up this story in 1 Kings 19, she wants to squelch this rebellion (or revival), and tries to panic Elijah.

1 Kings 19:1-8

1 Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.

2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time." (She says, “I promise I’ll kill you in the next 24 hours. Notice she didn’t just kill him; she wanted him to run away!)

3 And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. (actually he deserted his servant there – most scholars think this is Jonah, who had his own self-pity party later!)

Arose is the Hebrew word QUWM, and it means to get roused up and emotional. That’s what fear will do for you – it gets your emotions running out of control!

4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers."

Running from your problems leads to self-pity when you stop! Do you see the irony here? Elijah ran because he was afraid to die; now he’s begging God to kill him! Self-pity will make you irrational!

5 He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, "Arise, eat." (We see a couple of verses down that this is the Angel of the Lord, a title used for the second person of the trinity, Jesus Christ)

6 Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.

Even though Elijah was full of self-pity, and running away from the plan of God, GOD STILL SUSTAINED HIM!

7 The angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you."

8 So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Learn this lesson from this passage – ANYONE can fail! Elijah was a mature believer, and accomplished great things to lead the nation of Israel back to God. But in one split second, he turns into an abject failure.

But recognize also that God continued to sustain Elijah, even out of the plan of God. Even when we fail, the Lord Jesus Christ is still there to sustain us, and give us what we need to get back into His plan for our lives. He comes to us not only when we live in His plan, but when we are in the hour of our darkest difficulty.

What was Elijah’s failure? He failed to remember the blessings and promises of God.

Psalms 103:1-5

1 Bless the LORD, O my soul,

And all that is within me, bless His holy name.

2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,

And forget none of His benefits;

3 Who pardons all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases;

4 Who redeems your life from the pit,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

5 Who satisfies your years with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.