Why was the Prophet Elijah afraid after his great victory?
1 Kings 19:3-5 Names of God Bible (NOG)
3 Frightened, Elijah fled to save his life. He came to Beersheba in Judah and left his servant there. 4 Then he traveled through the wilderness for a day. He sat down under a broom plant and wanted to die. “I’ve had enough now, Yahweh,” he said. “Take my life! I’m no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom plant.
An angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”
Even individuals of great courage and conviction have moments when they feel discouraged. After the euphoric victory on Mount Carmel, it seems that Elijah’s emotions fell. He was not indestructible. He had human weaknesses. “Elijah was a human being just like us” (Jas 5:17).
We might think that in the rush of victory, Elijah would have felt invincible. Instead, it seems, he felt exhausted. We might think Elijah would have welcomed Jezebel’s challenge as an opportunity to attack his enemy at its source. Instead, he retreated.
It may be that Elijah was facing a personal crisis of faith, identity, and vision. Now that he had won his lifelong battle against the prophets of Baal, why was his life still in danger? Didn’t he deserve a little rest? Hadn’t he earned the right to retire in peace? Sometimes the thought of another battle, after just finishing one, is overwhelming.
We can only speculate about what actually fueled Elijah’s fears. But we can readily see that he was human. God met Elijah in the midst of fear and doubt, giving the frightened prophet comfort and rest.
What would you say to the Prophet Elijah?
Have you ever been in a place or position, that you felt victorious, and then a demonic incident happens that makes you lose all faith or focus?
Replies
I would tell him that fear is a natural reaction. We have the flight or fight response in our lives. We have to fight in order to stand still. Pull out your flight responder, get down like a ghetto fight, pull out the Vaseline, pull the hair back and get ready to rumble. You can’t hold back when it comes to the battle if good vs evil. Reach down inside of you and pull out that lion strength, those eagle eyes, gazelle legs and do what’s necessary for survival!!
Yes, I have been in a dark place when I was in an abusive marriage. I felt trapped, thought I was going to die in that mess, didn’t want my kids to be subject to this and God delivered me out of Egypt. Because the pain I was inflicting in my kids was unbearable. They were silent in words but bleeding in their soul.