The Comfort of God

Elijah, who called down fire from heaven on Mount Carmel and defeated the 850 prophets of idols, crumbles at a single threat from Jezebel and sits beneath a broom tree, asking to die. God does not rebuke him; instead he gives him bread and water and touches him.

Even those of great faith come to moments when fear of the world’s power brings them to their knees. The moment God slipped from view, all that filled Elijah’s eyes was his own frailty and the size of his enemy. God was not in the great and strong wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but in a still small voice; he chose to meet his people not in the outward miracles they long for but in a lowly place.

God upheld the discouraged Elijah to the end, giving him a new charge and telling him that seven thousand remained who had not bowed the knee to Baal. As he once waited for Noah, so God keeps hold of the weary and the fearful by the wrist and does not let go. The sermon calls its hearers to lay down the fears of this world, listen for that still small voice, and take the next step.