Have you ever felt you were in a cave? It’s dark, creepy, cold, lonely, and confined. Have you ever felt hopeless or felt like a failure? We all experience these things in our life. I know I have. Honestly, nobody wants to feel this way.
King David is another one of God’s servants who felt this way. Alone, abandoned, running for his life. He was hiding from King Saul in a cave who wanted to kill him.- (1 Sam 22:1), How about the caves of depression, despair, and fear? I guess we all experience caves for different reasons. How do we recover? How do we get to a better place? How do we get out of the cave?
This is a familiar story for most of us but let’s revisit it today. There was such a man and His name was Elijah. He was a man just like us today. James 5:17 (AMP) -17 Elijah was a human being with a nature such as we have [with feelings, affections, and a constitution like ours]; and he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, and no rain fell on the earth for three years and six months. He had feelings and emotions. He felt alone, depressed, and fearful. I think he had a pity party for a moment. Yet, he was a great prophet of God, performed many miracles among God’s people and he knew how to pray.
God showed up on His behalf in a mighty way. He was also a great threat to the wicked King Ahab and his idolatrous wife. We pick up the story in 1 Kings 19:1-3. Elijah had just defeated the wicked prophets of Baal. (NKJV) -1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3 And when he (Elijah ) saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. Then in 1 Kings 19:4 (NKJV) -4 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!” And in 1 Kings 19:9 (NKJV) –9 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?”
That was a great question from God. Like the time he went looking for Adam and Eve after they sinned- Genesis 3:9 (NKJV) -9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” Another great question. Sometimes we need to ask ourselves, “What are you doing?” or Where are you emotionally, spiritually, or even physically.” This is personal accountability. Taking stock of yourself. Examining your own heart and lifestyle. I don’t mean getting down on yourself or looking for things that are not there. Getting overly self-perspective. We need to focus on God and His Word. We need to talk to Him about these things and receive knowledge and wisdom to make adjustments in our lives for the better. God and His word will tell us how we need to change. Unfortunately, some people don’t want to change.
We see Elijah running for his life from Queen Jezebel. He just had a great spiritual victory. He saw the power of God at work defeating the 850 prophets of Baal. He went from a spiritual high to a spiritual low. What was it that brought about Elijah’s descent into despair and wanting to die? It was a woman’s life-threatening words. Just words! “Stick and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me?”Oh really? Well, they sent Elijah running. Words and messages can have an impact on our lives good or bad. The words we tell ourselves, the words our parents have said, and the words that people tell us. I’m talking about negative, lying, discouraging, and unprofitable words.
Elijah also felt disappointed in God’s people for their lack of repentance because of their rebellion. Thank God they eventually turned around and came back to Him. We too can be disappointed with people. We have certain expectations at times. When they aren’t met we become discouraged. Elijah also felt that he was the only prophet left in the land. As I said before he had a pity party. 1 Kings 19:14 (NKJV) -14 And he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; because 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. Elijah later learned that he wasn’t alone at all. 1 Kings 18:4 (NKJV) –4 For so it was, while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water. Sometimes we think we are the only ones going through stuff. We become narrow-minded. We can’t see past our problems. All of this weighed heavily on his mind. We need to speak the right words over our lives. We need to have healthy self-talk. Philemon 1:6 (NKJV) -6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. What messages are you receiving today?
Here we have a mighty prophet who saw tremendous miracles in the grips of a troubled and downcast soul to the point that he wanted to end his life-(1 Kings 19:4 ). How can that be? There were four times Elijah escaped to places of refuge during his journey. The first was when He pronounced judgment that there would be no rain. He fled to the brook Cherith where he was supernaturally fed. When that ended he went to Zarephath where he was provided for by a widow. Next, he ran into the wilderness after he received the death threat from Jezebel. Finally, after a forty-day journey, He entered a cave for refuge. At this point, he was still running for his life. Through all of this time, God was reaching out to him. We can feel like God is absent in difficult times. It’s ironic when we are obeying God, seeing great miracles, and when persecution comes we forget that God is still with us! It’s amazing when we feel like spiritual giants, our weaknesses and failures are at the door knocking. Humility is a good thing. Apart from the Lord, we can do nothing. Did Elijah give into fear, his weaknesses, and self-doubt? Did He forget all that God had done for him and through him?
Elijah was supernaturally fed at the Brook Cherith, He was supernaturally provided for by the widow. Another time an angel visits him and gives him food and water. At this point, Elijah was able to rest. After that long journey of forty days, God shows up again. He demonstrated His supernatural power in nature around him. 1 Kings 19:11-12 (NKJV) –11 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 LORDwas not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORDwas not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORDwas not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. What was God saying? I am God who performs mighty acts yet I am very personal. I can do extraordinary things but I also can speak very intimately to your heart, even in a still small voice. Don’t forget the little things. I’m not always in the big moments. 1 Kings 19:13 (NKJV) -13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” This is the second time God said what are you doing here? What was God saying? “Listen, Elijah, I’m with you, you are my prophet, my hand is on your life and you have a job to do. Get out of this cave and do what I called you to do.” There is something about acknowledging that God is with you always. He will never leave you or forsake you. He is always trying to encourage us and communicate with us! He always wants us to be in a position so that we can move forward in life. When we stop it is an unhealthy place to be in.
What did God do for Elijah? He gave him direction so he could receive supernatural provisions. He provided food and shelter. God ministered to his heart in a personal way. Again he fed him with food and water, physical rest, and reminded him of his purpose. We are talking about soul care. God will do the same for us. When dealing with disappointments, discouragement, fear, depression, and despair. When it’s the dark night of the soul. It is probably good that we don’t look for the spectacular from God but for that still, small voice that says, “I love you and I’m with you. You are going to be all right. Take my hand. I’m not done with you yet. You have a future and a hope.”-(Jer 29:11 ).
I see a combination of God addressing our emotional, physical, and our spiritual needs. He wants to minister to the whole man. We have to eat right, exercise, and we have to get the proper sleep. At times we need to get away and rest. To take a vacation. We need to be in God’s Word, in Christian fellowship, building relationships, and going to Church regularly. We need to repent of any ongoing habitual sin. We need to be free of any fear, guilt, and condemnation. We think if I’m spiritually fit and strong I can burn the candle at both ends. That can only spell disaster.
We also have to identify our purpose in life. What is God calling me to do? For the road to emotional and spiritual health, we need to understand that when things are out of order in our lives it dramatically negatively affects our whole makeup. Anxiety, stress, worry, fear, loss of sleep, and poor eating habits can greatly affect our lives. Feeling abandoned, forsaken, let down, and constantly disappointed affects our view on life as well. We can internalize all of this emotionally. We can either run, escape, or worst yet we want to end it all like Elijah. We can become addicted to self-hurt such as alcohol or drugs, etc. That is not God’s will for us at all. Listen, you are not alone. You may have done and are doing great things for God and yet be plagued by a rollercoaster of negative feelings and emotions. Where you feel like you let yourself or God down. You feel like a disappointment, a failure. God doesn’t want you to give up on yourself and His plan for your life. He has amazing things for you! Remember He cares more about you than what you do for Him.
If we are going to have a healthy soul we need to know that God loves us no matter what. We need to know that God has forgiven us and we need to forgive ourselves. We need to embrace God’s plan for our lives and reach beyond ourselves. When we falter or fail we need to get right back up and move forward. God is always our refuge and our help in our time of need. God is saying, “What are you doing here?” It is time to come out of the cave. Let me lead you out.
In Christ’s love
Brent and Linda Bushen
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