Overcome by Fear
Up until this stage, as we have observed Elijah’s journey of faith, we have seen virtually no chinks in his armour. Every step has been a victorious one of trust and obedience, of courage and conviction, of daring and discipline. In fact it is hard to identify ourselves with such a man; he just doesn’t seem to have the struggles that the rest of us have. Praise God for 1 Kings 19! For here we discover the frailty of the man, the prophet Elijah intimidated by the threats of a woman. Now that’s something we can all identify with!!
This may sound a little bazaar, but for me some of the most encouraging stories in the Bible are the ones where God’s servants failed. Eg Abraham convincing his wife to lie, Moses killing an Egyptian and striking the rock, Jonah running from God, Peter disowning Jesus, Paul and Barnabas having a heated argument about John Mark. I find such incidents encouraging because they reassure me that no matter how much I fail I am still fit for the Master’s use. In fact what I have come to realize is that not only does God use failures, He will only use failures!! He has no time for the self-righteous who justify their weaknesses. He will only use those who admit their failings, who know that they are weak. Don’t hide your weaknesses, rather, boast in them. The Apostle Paul said, “So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me.” (2 Cor 12:9). Our weaknesses serve to remind us of our utter dependence on God.
Back to Elijah. Give him a stand-off against 450 false prophets any day, but the vile threats of a powerful woman and it’s “Asta lavista baby”. Why did Elijah run? Why was he overcome with fear at this point in life? Why did he hide from the threats of a woman when everything he had learned over the past three years told him that God could be trusted, God was in control? Here are several contributing factors that caused Elijah to be overcome by fear.
Elijah was not thinking clearly. He neglected to consider the source of the threat. Jezebel may have been an infuriated, hot-tempered, powerful woman, but she was no match for God. Elijah wasn’t thinking straight, instead of running he should have taken his insecurities to God in prayer and ask Him to compensate for them. He knew God’s sovereignty but acted according to his own frailty. Evaluate every uncomfortable reaction and every unsettling emotion against the backdrop of God’s sovereignty.
Elijah separated himself from those who could strengthen him. After running away for quite some time he chose to part company with his helper and carry on the journey alone. Discouraged people are lonely people. The word ‘encouragement’ literally means ‘to pour courage into someone’. Elijah separated himself from the one person who could strengthen him and encourage him. One of the best things he could have done was to stay with his trusted friend. When you feel discouraged don’t distance yourself from those who care for you. It is then that you need them the most!
Elijah was caught in the backwash of a great victory. As Chuck Swindoll says, “Our most vulnerable moments usually come after a great victory.” Perhaps Elijah thought himself bullet-proof. Perhaps he imagined that Jezebel would repent and bow to the Lord Almighty and that the entire nation would come to the Lord with deep remorse. Ultimately every individual needs to make their own mind up about God; Jezebel did and chose to fight. Elijah had his defenses down; he thought the battle was over. It never is! One of the greatest fallacies we face as western Christians is that we fail to appreciate the sinister forces that we war against. Read Ephesians 6 and you will discover that Paul commands us to remain alert, to stand firm and to never stop praying.
Elijah was physically and emotionally drained. In today’s language we might say that he was burnt out. There is a Greek proverb that says, “You will break the bow if you keep it always bent.” In other words, if you are living under constant, relentless stress, you’ll finally break under the pressure. You need time to rest and be refreshed. We live in demanding times. It seems that there are more demands placed on our time these days than at any other moment in history. We have lost the ability to be still and rest. Genuine refreshment is substituted by a high-energy drink we buy in a can on our way to work. I reckon that if God rested on the seventh day then it’s got to be a good idea.
Elijah got lost in self-pity. Self-pity cultivates a “victim mentality” in ones head. In the worst-case scenario this can lead to suicidal feelings. Listen to Elijah talking to God, “I have had enough Lord,” he said, “Take my life for I am no better than my ancestors.” Who ever said that Elijah had to be better than his ancestors? Not God, that’s for sure. In fact God never tells us to be better either. So if you are trying to live up to an unrealistic standard, be sure that God hasn’t set it. I am often saying to Christians that God doesn’t want us to try harder, He simply wants us to surrender, to come to Him and say, “God if you want me to be more like Jesus then you are going to have to do it.”
Elijah was frustrated with His failings and his own weakness, as a result he felt useless and only good for the grave. It is a pity that the book of Colossians wasn’t written in Elijah’s day. If it was he could have read these words, “As a result, he (Jesus) has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault” (Col 1:22). Yes, you read that correctly, “…without a single fault”.
