Scriptures: 1 Kings 17:1, James 5:17-18

The Source of Elijah’s Strength 

“And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.’” (1 Kings 17:1 NKJV)

The times in the ancient Kingdom of Israel were so chaotic that they saw four ruling dynasties rise and conquer the previous. It was a crucial time in the history of Israel, and it looked as if the worship of the true God might be completely eliminated among the northern tribes of Israel. It was a time when the whole kingdom seemed to be apostate, and any true follower of God had reason to feel very alone. 

At this crucial time in the history of Judah and Israel, the Prophet Elijah suddenly appeared, shining like a meteor on a black night. He became the dominant spiritual force in Israel during the dark days of Ahab’s apostasy. The name Elijah means, Yahweh is my God. In the days when Ahab’s government officially supported the worship of Baal and other gods, even the name of this prophet told the truth. 

Elijah said, “There shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.” This was a dramatic demonstration against the pagan god Baal, who was thought to be the sky god, the god of the weather. Elijah showed through his prayers to the God of Israel that Yahweh was mightier than Baal. This was the old religion against the new; camel’s hair against soft clothing; moral strength against moral weakness. 

Elijah was not merely the prophet of this drought – in the sense of prayer, he was the cause of the drought. He prayed and it happened. James 5:17-18 makes this clear: Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

In this initial statement Elijah revealed the source of his strength: “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand.” It is specifically said “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours” (James 5:17). Yet he showed a strength greater than most of us in our life with God. We must pay attention to these two indications revealing the source of Elijah’s strength. 

First, he said, “As the Lord God of Israel lives.” Everyone else felt that the Lord was dead, but for Elijah the Lord lived. He was the supreme reality of Elijah’s life. 

Secondly, he said, “Before whom I stand.” He stood in the presence of Ahab, but he was conscious of the presence of Someone greater than any earthly king. Gabriel himself could not choose a higher title (Luke 1:19). 

It is easy to see that we ourselves live in a dark day. Should we not expect God to raise up new Elijahs today – men and women of such moral and spiritual strength that they shine like a meteor on a dark night? Remember that Elijah was a man just like you; if he had your weaknesses, then you – with God’s blessings – can have his strength. 

Scriptures: 1 Kings 17:2-6, Psalms 119:116-117

God’s Faithfulness in an Isolated Place 

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. (1 Kings 17:2-6) 

The drought announced by Elijah in the previous verse was a great threat to the northern kingdom of Israel and the reign of Ahab. Therefore, his life was in danger, and God sent him to the Brook Cherith for his own safety. 

In this we see that God led Elijah one step at a time. He did not tell him to go to Cherith until he first delivered the message to Ahab. He did not tell him to go to Zarephath until the brook dried up at Cherith. God led Elijah by faith, one step at a time, and Elijah followed in faith. 

Through the command, “hide by the Brook Cherith,” God taught Elijah the value of the hidden life. He had just become famous as an adversary of Ahab, so mighty that his prayers could stop the rain. At the moment of his new-found fame, God wanted Elijah to hide and be alone with God. It was a good antidote to the fearful but subtle temptations of success. The name “Cherith” comes from the ancient Hebrew root meaning, to cut away, to cut up or off. This shows that God had some cutting to do in the life of Elijah during this period. 

God explained to Elijah, “And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” The escape to the Brook Cherith was for more than protection. It was also to train Elijah in dependence upon the Lord. In a season of drought, he had to trust that God could keep this brook flowing. He also had to accept food from the ravens, which were unclean animals. 

God also told the prophet, “I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” There is an emphasis on the word “there.” God promised that the ravens would feed Elijah as he stayed at Cherith. Of course, theoretically the ravens could feed him anywhere – but God commanded that it be at Cherith. Elijah perhaps wanted to be somewhere else, or be preaching, or doing anything else. Yet God wanted him there and would provide for him there. 

At that place, “The ravens brought him bread and meat.” Every bit of food that came to Elijah came from the beak of an unclean animal. Elijah had to put away his traditional ideas of clean and unclean or he would die of starvation. Through this, God taught Elijah to emphasize the spirit of the law before the letter of the law. 

The provision came – “Bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening.” As faithfully has He provided manna for Israel in the wilderness, God provided for Elijah’s needs. He came to trust more than ever in the miraculous provision of God. 

Has God sent you to an isolated place? You can trust that He has a special way to provide for you there – though He might do it through an unusual way. Don’t despise God’s ravens. 

Scriptures: 1 Kings 17:7, Psalms 31:14-16

When the Blessings Dry Up 

And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. (1 Kings 17:7) 

God used this prophet Elijah to speak forth His word against a corrupt regime. The regime was so corrupt that after his bold announcement (found in 1 Kings 17:1) they wanted to kill him. So, God sent His servant away to a safe place by a flowing brook where he was miraculously fed by ravens. It was a time of rest, restoration, and learning for Elijah as God stretched his faith and his thinking through those ravens. 

Then we come to verse 7 and find that “after a while that the brook dried up.” It didn’t happen suddenly; it happened “after a while.” We can picture Elijah sitting by the brook day by day, observing that the water level slowly dropped and the speed of the flow began to slow. Elijah saw the flow of the brook slow down until it dried up. His source of water was gone. 

Why did it happen? It happened as a direct result of his own prayers. Read it for yourself: “because there had been no rain in the land.” This was the drought Elijah prayed for. Perhaps when he first prayed he didn’t know how the answer to the prayer would affect him personally, but now he certainly knew. It isn’t easy when God’s gracious and righteous answer to your prayers brings hardship upon yourself. 

Nevertheless, he did not pray for rain to come again – not even for his own survival. He kept the purpose of God first, even when it adversely affected him. 

We can regard Elijah’s experience as an illustration of something many Christians experience, what F.B. Meyer called “the drying brook.” He wrote, “Ah, it is hard to sit beside a drying brook – much harder than to face the prophets of Baal on Carmel.” Meyer also mentioned different kinds of drying brooks we might experience: 

• The drying brook of popularity, ebbing away as from John the Baptist. 
• The drying brook of health, sinking under a creeping paralysis, or a slow consumption. 
• The drying brook of money, slowly dwindling before the demands of sickness, bad debts, or other people’s extravagance. 
• The drying brook of friendship, which for long has been diminishing, and threatens soon to cease. 

It takes a special grace, a unique work of the Spirit of God, to see the brook dry up in front of you and to bear it with godly endurance. We like to see things move from one success to another, from glory to glory, but there are times when God knows that the drying brook is exactly what is best for us. He didn’t bring you to that place out of anger or punishment; indeed, we might say that Elijah had to live by that brook because he had a particular closeness with God. The season of the drying brook became a season of higher education and deeper experience. 

“Why does God let them dry? He wants to teach us not to trust in His gifts but in Himself.” (F.B. Meyer) 

If God has placed you beside a drying brook, don’t despise it – let it work its perfect work. 

Scriptures: 1 Kings 17:8-16, Proverbs 3:5-6

Bold Faith in God’s Provision 

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” (1 Kings 17:8-9) 

Elijah escaped from the murderous Queen Jezebel and found refuge in the wilderness beside a flowing brook. Miraculously guided ravens faithfully brought him food, but the brook he counted on for water slowly dried up. At his point of need, God had a word for him: “Go to a Gentile city and meet a widow whom I have commanded to provide for your needs.” 

It was another unusual command for the prophet. When God told him, “Arise, go to Zarephath,” it meant that God led Elijah from the dry brook to a Gentile city. This was an unusual and challenging move for Elijah to make. If it was strange to meet Elijah’s needs from the beak of unclean birds, it was even more unusual to meet his needs among Gentiles who worshipped other gods. Indeed, at this time when Elijah’s main enemy and threat was Queen Jezebel, God led Elijah to go to the same general region where Jezebel came from. 

Yet Elijah could trust God because of what he had already seen God do. We see that God kept transplanting Elijah: from his home to Jezreel; from Jezreel to Cherith; from Cherith to Zarephath. This transplanting made him stronger and stronger. 

God wrapped it all up in a promise for the prophet: “See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” The promise sounded stranger to Elijah than it does to us. Remember that in his day, widows were notorious for their poverty. God told Elijah to go to a Gentile widow and receive provision; it probably seemed to make more sense to wait beside a dry brook. 

When he came to Zarephath, what do you think Elijah found? As he walked to the village he probably thought, “O Lord, your ways are awesome. You plan to meet my needs through a rich Gentile widow. There aren’t many rich Gentile widows who would want to help a prophet of God, but You have found one and have commanded her to help me. Thank You God; You are amazing.” 

The following verses tell us what happened. When Elijah came into Zarephath he did not find a rich widow who offered to meet his needs. Instead, he found a poor widow gathering sticks – evidence of her true poverty. She gathered these meager scraps for firewood. She didn’t have food for Elijah; she didn’t even have firewood! Elijah perhaps thought that God would lead him to an unusual rich widow, but God led him to a poor Gentile widow. 

In addition, the woman didn’t seem to know that God commanded her to provide for the prophet. God said that He commanded her, but she was unaware of the command. She just woke up that morning and went to gather sticks for a last meal for herself and her son. 

Yet when she met the prophet, he boldly asked her for some water and some bread. Elijah confidently made this request in faith. Common sense and circumstances told him that the widow would not give so generously to a Jewish stranger, but faith made him ask. It was a strange, faith-stretching scene. Imagine yourself as the poor widow. You are so poor that you are near death. You have enough flour and oil to make one last small meal for yourself and your son, and then all will be gone. As you gather a few sticks for firewood to prepare your “last supper,” a stranger comes to you and politely asks that you feed him also. 

No one could have blamed her for telling him off or running away. Yet she didn’t because she was guided by God’s hand. She was commanded by Him without even knowing it. God would indeed provide for Elijah through this poor widow; and through her step of faith God would provide for her own needs as well. 

When we are bold in faith, we trust in God’s ability to provide. But we often limit Him by picking and choosing the ways we think He can or must provide. God shows us through this unusual meeting between a prophet of God and poor Gentile widow that He can provide through unexpected resources. Thankfully, God has resources you know nothing about. It is true regarding material resources, as Elijah discovered. Yet it is also true regarding every resource you need for your body, soul, and spirit. 

Let God provide for you from His hidden treasury today; but expect that it will require faith to receive it.

Scriptures: 1 Kings 18:1, 1 Kings 18:17-40

All These Things at God’s Word 

And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.” (1 Kings 18:36-37) 

It was one of the most dramatic scenes of the Old Testament. Elijah, the faithful prophet of God who had stopped the rain from the northern kingdom of Israel for some three years, stood before gathered representatives of the kingdom to make a great demonstration. He had challenged the prophets of Baal to a duel: “My God against your god.” He proposed that they each build an altar on a prominent hill, sacrifice an animal on the altar, and pray to each deity to consume the sacrifice by fire from heaven. The onlooking multitude would thereby know whose God was real and powerful. 

In this proposed test, Elijah was careful to give the prophets of Baal every potential advantage. He allowed them to pick their preferred bull for sacrifice. He allowed them to go first. And he fought the battle on their own ground, because it was thought that Baal was the sky-god, lord of the weather and the sender of lightning (thought to be fire from the sky). If Baal were real, he certainly could send fire from heaven. 

It took a lot of faith for Elijah to put God and himself on the line before the gathered nation of Israel. Elijah learned this faith over the many months of daily dependence on God, both at the Brook Cherith and at the widow’s house at Zarephath. 

He let the prophets of Baal go first and they failed miserably. They prayed, they danced, they screamed, they even practiced self-mutilation to please their grotesque god. Elijah sat by until they exhausted every effort, then he drew the nation to his altar. When he set up his altar he asked them to soak the sacrifice and the stones so no one would think that the fire was a magician’s trick. Elijah’s explanation in these verses tells us why he was willing to stack the deck against God. 

First, we are told that he did this “at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice.” Some 50 years before this, Jeroboam the King of Israel officially disassociated the citizens of the northern kingdom from the worship of the God of Israel at the temple in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, Elijah still remembered the evening sacrifice that was offered according to God’s commandment every day at the temple in Jerusalem. 

Then he said to the people: “Let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant.” Both were important. It was important for the people of Israel to know who their God was, and who God’s servant was. They needed to know that Elijah was the servant of the true God and the prophets of Baal were not. 

Then Elijah said some of the most important words in the entire passage: “And that I have done all these things at Your word.” This was essential and helps us to understand the whole event. We think of the prophet of God making such a big step of faith – of putting God’s honor and his own on the line. If the fire did not fall, then Yahweh would be just as discredited as Baal. Yet these words of Elijah tell us that he did all of this according to the word of God. It wasn’t prompted because of his own cleverness, presumption, or vainglory. God led Elijah to this showdown with the prophets of Baal. 

You can figure out how it ended: the fire fell, God was glorified, and His servant was vindicated. Elijah knew he could stack the deck against God because he knew he was doing what God commanded him to do. 

In our life, we aren’t always as confident about the will or voice of God as Elijah was. But when we do know that God has spoken His word to us, we can have the same confidence of Elijah. We can go to God’s throne in heaven through prayer and say, “I have done all these things at Your word.” That is the place of confidence and power before God. 

Scriptures: 1 Kings 18:41-46, Ephesians 6:18

What the Small Cloud Means 

And [Elijah] said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.” Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’” (1 Kings 18:43-44) 

Elijah had prayed, and for 3 ½ years rain was withheld from the Kingdom of Israel as judgment against their state-sponsored idolatry and persecution of the people of God. After the dramatic defeat of the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel, it was time for Elijah to change course in prayer. Now he would pray that God would send rain after having previously stopped the rain. 

Elijah bowed down on the ground, in a posture of deep submission. A few hours before he had stood tall like a mighty oak tree against the prophets of Baal; now Elijah bowed like a wind-blown blade of grass in his prayer to God. It shows the truth of what F.B. Meyer wrote: “The men who stand straightest in the presence of sin bow lowest in the presence of God.” 

As Elijah prayed for rain he expected an answer, and he would not stop praying until the answer came. So he sent his servant out to look for the clouds of coming rain. The servant went out and saw nothing; Elijah kept praying. Five more times the prophet sent his servant to see the answer to prayer and the servant saw nothing. Yet, “it came to pass the seventh time.” This was stubbornly persistent prayer. It was as if Elijah would not take “no” for an answer, because he was confident that it was God’s will to send rain. He stubbornly furthered the will of God by his persistent prayer. It is a good thing that Elijah didn’t quit praying after six previous disappointments. 

Elijah prayed, asking in faith for God to send the rain. Elijah obviously sensed this was the will of God, yet it was his fervent prayer that brought the rain. 

Finally, the servant brought a report: “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” After all that prayer, Elijah may have wanted bigger evidence than a small cloud on the distant horizon. The evidence of the rain came slowly and in a small way, but out of this small evidence God brought a mighty work. 

Elijah knew that the small cloud meant a big work was on the way. He told King Ahab in faith, “Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.” Based only on the sighting of a cloud that was as small as a man’s hand, he knew a torrent was on the way. When we see God moving in even small ways among us, we should have great faith for a greater work to come. 

Scriptures: 1 Kings 19:1-8, Psalms 42:11

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.” 

Scriptures: 1 Kings 19:9-10, Exodus 33:17-23, Psalms 118:5

Being Honest to God 

And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” (1 Kings 19:9-10)

Elijah was depressed. He had a recent season of great spiritual victory, followed by a time of almost crushing gloom. He was so depressed that he prayed that God would simply take him to heaven and let him be done with life on this earth. That prayer was not answered; instead, God served His servant and allowed him time for rest and recuperation. God first ministered to Elijah’s physical needs. This is not always His order, but physical needs are important. Sometimes the most spiritual thing a person can do is get enough rest and replenishment. 

Next, God sent Elijah to a specific place – to Horeb, the mountain of God (1 Kings 19:8). Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai, the place where Moses met with God many centuries before Elijah. Then we read that Elijah “went into a cave.” Literally, the Hebrew is definite in describing the cave. This is quite possibly the very same place where God appeared to Moses as recorded in Exodus 33:22. 

When Elijah came there, God asked him a question: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Of course, God knew the answer to this question. Yet it was good for Elijah to speak to the Lord freely and to unburden his heart. And that is exactly what Elijah did. 

He poured out his feelings to God: “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts.” Elijah protested to God, “I have faithfully served You and now look at the danger I am in.” To Elijah – and many servants of God since – it seemed unfair that a faithful servant of God should be made to suffer. 

In asking this question we might say that Elijah was in God’s University of Higher Service. Having been greatly used of God and destined to serve Him in a yet greater way, Elijah needed to learn some deep lessons at God’s special school. He felt that He had served God well and should not be made to suffer; now he was learning differently. 

The frustrated prophet carried his complaint further when he said, “I alone am left.” This was not accurate, but it reflected how Elijah felt. God would soon show Elijah that he was not alone and that his work had produced and strengthened a good-sized remnant in the Kingdom of Israel. This would be hard for Elijah to believe, because he sure felt alone. Even back at the confrontation at Mount Carmel, Elijah said, I alone am left a prophet of the Lord (1 Kings 18:22). Discouraging times make God’s servants feel more isolated and alone than they are. 

Elijah continued: “I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” Strangely, the reasons Elijah provided were actually important reasons for him to remain alive. If he really was the last prophet or believer alive, should not he seek to live as long as possible? If the enemies of God like Jezebel wanted him dead, should he not seek to defeat her wicked will? Elijah here powerfully showed the unreasonable nature of unbelief and fear. 

God would soon answer Elijah and speak to his feelings, his unbelief, and his fear. Yet notice the goodness of God in simply allowing His prophet to simply let it out; and the wisdom of Elijah in taking God up on that invitation. It is easy for God’s people to be far too concerned with the image of “everything is alright” than in being honest with God, themselves, and others. Yes, Elijah was trapped in a pity-party of discouragement, unbelief, and fear – and being honest about it to the Lord opened the door for God’s answer. 

Elijah could be honest to God and God would be good to Him. 

Scriptures: 1 Kings 19:11-18, Zechariah 4:6, Psalms 46:10

God’s Gentle Whisper 

Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. (1 Kings 19:11-12) 

God had led the discouraged prophet to a lonely mountain in the middle of the dry wilderness. It wasn’t just any mountain, but the same place where many centuries before Moses had met with God and where the people of Israel received the law of God. So here, at the special place on Mount Sinai, God told Elijah: “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” God knew what the depressed and discouraged Elijah needed. He needed a personal encounter with God. There was nothing fundamentally wrong with Elijah’s theology, but at the time there was something lacking in his experience. 

God met this lack. Notice the words, “Behold, the Lord passed by.” God brought His presence before Elijah, but first to show where He was not. The Lord was not in the wind, He was not in the earthquake, and He was not in the fire. Elijah was a man like other men (James 5:17) so, as many others do, Elijah probably only looked for God in dramatic manifestations. Certainly, God sometimes appears in such ways (wind, earthquake, and fire) but He often appears in less dramatic surroundings. 

We read the famous verse in Zechariah 4:6: “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord.” We may know the words of the verse but find the heart of it painfully easy to forget. We tend to look for God’s presence only in some remarkable display of power of one kind or another. We find it hard to believe that God isn’t in the mighty wind or the scary earthquake or the fearful fire. God used this remarkable event in the life of Elijah to reinforce the principle of Zechariah 4:6. 

After the wind and the earthquake and the fire had passed, there came “a still small voice.” One commentator called the still small voice a gentle whisper. This final phenomenon was a marked contrast to the previous manifestations. God actually met Elijah in the quiet whisper of a voice instead of the earth-shaking phenomenon that had gone before. 

There was a deep truth in this message, both for Elijah and for us. Elijah perhaps thought that the dramatic display of power at Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:20-40) would turn the nation around. Or perhaps he thought that the radical display of God’s judgment against the priests of Baal following the vindication at Mount Carmel would change the hearts of the nation. Neither of these worked. This example is important for Christian ministers, especially preachers, today. It shows that displays of powerand preaching God’s anger don’t necessarily change hearts. Instead, the still small voice of God speaking to the human heart is actually more powerful than outward displays of power or displays of God’s judgment. 

Elijah’s success at Mount Carmel faded quickly and it made him think that his whole life as a prophet had been a waste and that he had made no real impact upon the people of God. He had looked at the facts through the grey-colored glasses of unbelief and allowed his imagination to hold more power than the facts before him. God assured Elijah that there were in fact 7,000 people who were faithful to God remaining in Israel (1 Kings 19:18). The revelation of this godly remnant did more than encourage Elijah that he was not alone; it also assured him that his quiet ministry of preaching and encouraging had borne much more fruit than the discouraged prophet had dared believe. 

God can still show His power through His still small voice.