Elijah - When God Seems Distant

If you are struggling to connect with God in the everyday then this chapter is about why that might be and what we can do about it. It’s comforting to know that we are not alone – in fact, we are in highly exalted company.  

Elijah was one of God’s giants, a prophet par excellence. All other prophets lived in his shadow; miracles would happen wherever he turned up.  

Elijah raised the dead, defied kings, defeated God’s enemies and thunderously proclaimed God’s truth to a people who had lost their way. Yet we suspect that the greatest lesson he learned as he followed God was about encountering him no on the ‘mountain tops’ of life, but in the valleys.   

We join the story in 1 Kings 18. Israel had reached a low point. King Ahab had married a foreigner, Jezebel. This wouldn’t be controversial today but in Israel it was against God’s law. God knew they would easily be led into idol worship and this is exactly what happened. Queen Jezebel’s idol of choice was called Baal. Over time she turned not only Ahab but the nation of Israel against the Lord.  

Elijah announced it was one  against four hundred and fifty. The whole tone behind this declaration was, ‘and I like the odds.’ He invited Baal’s prophets to ‘battle’. This battle involved preparing a bull to be sacrificed. They would then take turns to invite their gods to send fire from heaven on the bull. Whichever god answered with fire – he was the real God.  

Baal’s 450 prophets prepared their bull. They danced and cried out to Baal all morning. Nothing happened.  

Then it was Elijah’s turn. He repaired the altar of the Lord and prepared his bull. To make a statement, he then dug a trench and ordered the people to drench the bull in water, not once or twice but three times. 

Fire fell; it even licked up the water – Elijah triumphed! 

Yet in the very next chapter we read this: ‘Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He cam to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors’ (1 Kings 19:3-4). 

Elijah feel asleep. While he was sleeping God sent two angels. When Elijah awoke there was fresh bread baked one hot coals and a jar of water. ‘Get up and eat,’ an angel told him. Elijah slept again, was woken and was given more food and drink. This second time the angel said, ‘Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.’

A mistake we often make when struggling to connect with God is that we try to be more spiritual than he is. If you find yourself in a place where God seems distant, worship is difficult, the problem may not be that you are a spiritual weakling who needs to try harder. Another possibility is that you are running on empty. Admitting this can be surprisingly hard.   

So you feel distant from God? You aren’t praying much? Perhaps you are lacking in self-control or can’t seem to read your Bible? Elijah teaches us it may just be that you’ve been running flat out for a long time. Too often we separate the physical and emotional from the spiritual. God doesn’t do this.  

Elijah’s naps and snacks aren’t an isolated incident in the Bible. Throughout Scripture people are commanded to live lives of regular rest.  

The pattern continued with Jesus. He turned water into wine and fed five thousand people in part because he cared about their physical bodies. He understood his own physical needs and filled his ‘three years to save the world’ with meals, parties and naps. ‘Consider the lilies,’ he said, ‘look at the birds’ – the implication being he had slowed down enough to do so himself (Matt. 6:28, 26 NRSV). 

If you are feeling very low, if God seems distant, eat some chocolate and get an early night (at least before you do anything else). It’s not that God reluctantly ‘allows’ this; we think he encourages it.  

If we think we can survive on conferences, rallies or even Sunday services we are in for a great shock. These moments won’t sustain us any more than the fire on Carmel sustained Elijah. Elijah was being taught that God’s presence is not found simply in the earthquake, wind and fire moments of life.

God is present in the gentle whisper.  

God whispers because his priority is intimacy, not entertainment. You don’t have to be close to the earthquake, win or fire to feel its effects, but to hear the gentle whisper you have to feel his breath on your neck. It is this closeness that sustains us, that turns God’s servants into his friends.  

If the main thing you want is to be used by God then settle for spectacular moments a few times a year. If, however, you want deep relationship with God, the gentle whisper is essential.  

God is speaking to us. He wants to be near us. The key is to recognize this and then learn to tune our hearts to his. 

There are two simple, practical things we can do: withdraw to be alone with God, and ‘practice the presence’ of God in day-to-day life.  

After Carmel, Elijah left his servant and wandered alone in the wilderness. It was after a time of despairing isolation that he prayed ‘I have had enough Lord,’ and asked that he might die (1 Kings 19:4). So often we hit rock bottom emotionally we do the same. We don’t speak to the people we love the most. We cut ourselves off.  

Why do we do this? It is one of Satan’s oldest and most effective strategies. He usually waits till we are at our most vulnerable before suggesting isolation as a way to freedom.  

Many of us make the mistake of settling for trying to follow God, or live life, alone. Of course, we don’t completely cut ourselves off, but very few people ever get to really see our pain or share our joy. When we do this we are missing out! It can be tempting to say to ourselves: ‘God is all I need.’ The problem is, God disagrees with us – he knows we need others.  

These people are precious gifts to us; they will enrich our lives, make us human and beckon us onwards in our journey with God. It is to the mysteries, the gifts and challenges of friendships that our next lifeline speaks.  

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