Bible Stories for the Young
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Woo-hoo! After three and a half years of dry, dry, dryness now there was finally rain again!
The people had all seen God’s awesome power up on Mount Carmel, and now He had just given them a wonderful gift. Rain! There was no doubt that Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel was the Only True God — and He was their God. I bet those people were out dancing in the rain.
But there was one person who was not happy. Jezebel.
When Ahab had told Jezebel all about the greatest show, and how the people had done away with all her Baal-worshipping friends… Huff! When Jezebel heard that, she was furious. She got so boiling mad that she sent a message to Elijah and said, “Before the end of the day, I will take your life!”
That scared Elijah, so he ran away to hide from Jezebel. He ran all the way into the wilderness where he curled up under a bush. He prayed, “God, please just let me be done. I’ve had enough. I’m not any better than my ancestors who came before me. I’m just as worthless as them.”
Elijah had just won a HUGE victory for God—He had just shown the people the Greatest Fire Show ever. He had done away with the false prophets of Baal. He had prayed and caused it to rain after three and a half years of drought. So why was Elijah curled up under a bush in despair and sadness?
Probably because Jezebel was still on her throne. God’s Children were still being bossed around and “led” by a wicked, wicked queen and king.
Do you think Elijah could have been wondering, “What was the point of the Greatest Fire Show ever if the people were still going to limp back and forth, back and forth between opinions? What was the point of doing away with the false prophets of Baal, if Jezebel would just find hundreds more to take their place? What was the point of bringing back the rain, if people weren’t going to change?”
I don’t know what all Elijah was thinking and feeling to make him ask God to let him be done. But no amount of feelings would change what Elijah needed to do. He needed to simply obey God one day at a time with ALL his heart, and trust God with whatever happened. It’s the same for you and me. Our thoughts and feelings about how things are turning out is not our concern. We just stick to following God and His Plan.
Then Elijah fell fast asleep under the bush. But suddenly, “Hey, wake up and eat!” An angel woke Elijah up. There was a yummy, warm meal right by Elijah’s head. Mmmm… Elijah ate and drank and laid back down. Zzzzz…
“Hey!” Again the angel told him, “Get up and eat… again. You need your energy because you need to go on a long journey.”
So Elijah got up and ate AGAIN. Then he started off on his journey.
He walked and walked for 40 days and 40 nights all the way to the mountain God had picked, Mount Horeb. (That’s the same mountain back with Moses, and the burning bush, and all the people of Israel.) Then Elijah went up the mountain and hid in a cave.
