When Enough Is Enough

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” (1 Kings 19:4)

Elijah has to be ranked among the greatest men or women of prayer in the entire Bible. He was mighty enough in prayer to make the heavens hold back rain for three and a half years, and then he had enough power in prayer to bring the rain back at the appointed time. Elijah had enjoyed an amazing period of spiritual success with the defeat of the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and the sincere (if brief) restoration of a belief in the true God among the people of Israel.

Yet at the end of that high season came a crashing depression. Here we find Elijah alone in the wilderness (“he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness”). This was beyond the distant city of Beersheba, where Elijah secluded himself as much as possible.

In that solitary place he began to pray – but not a mighty prayer of faith to revive the work of God among His spiritually dead people. This prayer was personal: “and he prayed that he might die.” This mighty man of prayer - mighty enough to make the rain and the dew stop for three and a half years, and then mighty enough to make it start again at his prayer - now he prayed that he might die.

Thankfully, this was a prayer not answered for Elijah. In fact, Elijah was one of the few men in the Bible to never die! We can imagine that many years later as he was caught up into heaven, he smiled and thought of this prayer - and the blessed “no” that answered his prayer. To receive a no answer from God can be better than receiving a yes answer – it certainly was true in Elijah’s case.

Look at what Elijah said in his prayer: “It is enough.” We sense that Elijah meant, “I can’t do this anymore, Lord.” The work was stressful, exhausting, and seemed to accomplish nothing. The great work on Mount Carmel did not result in a lasting national revival or return to the Lord. It was as if Elijah said, “Enough is enough, God. You will have to find someone else to do the work from here on because I am a confirmed failure.”

Yet we can see now that it wasn’t enough for Elijah. He had experienced many blessings, but God had many more for him. God had a great revelation of Himself to give to Elijah, something more than Elijah’s “enough.” Though he was presently worn out and discouraged by all the battles he had to fight, it seems that the later period of Elijah’s life was marked by peace and calm communion with God. Spurgeon said of Elijah at this point, “He seems never to have had another fainting fit, but to the end his sun shone brightly without a cloud. So it was not enough; how could he know that it was? It is God alone who knows when we have done enough, and enjoyed enough; but we do not know.”

Look at the rest of Elijah’s unanswered prayer: “Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” When Elijah examined the apparent failure of his work, he instinctively set the blame on his own unworthiness. It was because he was a sinner as the rest of his ancestors that the work seemed to fail.

It is easy to wonder how such a great man of God could have such gloomy thoughts. Yet we see that all of his spiritual accomplishments did not prevent Elijah from feeling unreasonably depressed and discouraged. Perhaps Elijah had especially hoped that the events on Mount Carmel would turn around Ahab and Jezebel and the leadership of Israel in general. If so, Elijah forgot that people reject God despite the evidence, not because of the evidence.

Have you recently said, “That’s enough!”? The lesson from Elijah is clear: God knows when enough is enough. Comfort yourself in that knowledge and thank Him for the prayers to which He said “No.”

Based on The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik.