Elijah’s Weakness

[1 Kings 19:1-4] “Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.’ Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, ‘It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.'”

Elijah’s victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel marked a triumphant peak in his three and a half years of faithful ministry. Elijah hoped King Ahab would respond positively and was prepared to witness a spiritual revival even greater than the miracle on Mount Carmel. Instead, he faced Jezebel’s provocation and threat. When Elijah saw this situation, he perceived not only Jezebel’s stubbornness but also the people’s indifference. The people had undeniably acknowledged that the LORD was God, yet they still didn’t glorify Him as God; at this critical moment, they stood by idly. King Ahab refused to administer justice, and no one among the people supported the prophet. Consequently, Elijah’s spirits plummeted from their peak into despair. He was profoundly disappointed by the people’s apathy, felt his ministry was meaningless, and didn’t even ask God to intervene again. Instead, he fled for his life.

In the past, whether Elijah went to the Wadi Cherith, to Zarephath, or to Mount Carmel, he always followed the word of the LORD, so he never felt weary. Now, he was fleeing for his life, but he was walking his own path, and the result was exhaustion. If we are co-laborers with God, yoked with the Lord, we should grow stronger the more we serve, for the Lord’s promise is: “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” If we find ourselves serving more outwardly but feeling more weary inwardly, we should reflect on whether we’re walking our own path and bearing our own yoke. On the surface, we might appear to be diligently serving God until death, but in reality, we are relying on our flesh to please God, and fleshly people cannot please God.

Although Elijah could perform perfect miracles through God, he failed to understand the purpose of these miracles. He mistakenly thought that a ministry that produced visible results was successful, and one that didn’t produce the results he imagined was a failure. In reality, the Northern Kingdom of Israel never truly experienced revival and ultimately could not avoid destruction. The great miracle on Mount Carmel was not meant to save the Northern Kingdom or revive Israel; rather, it was to reveal to God’s people throughout all generations, including the Southern Kingdom of Judah, that the LORD is God.

Elijah was overly concerned with the results of his ministry, to the point of forgetting that God was in control of everything. When we evangelize and serve God, we too often focus only on the work, forgetting that God is the Master of the work and that the results of the work are His responsibility. When we co-labor with God, we only need to be concerned whether the work is from God and whether we are faithful; we do not need to be concerned with the results of the work. If the work is from God, He will surely take our five loaves and two fish and bring glory to Himself. When God uses us, our flesh can also be fed by the results of our service, causing us to think of ourselves more highly than we ought (Romans 12:3), attributing God’s work to our own efforts and piety. At such times, God will also allow our service to fall into temporary difficulty, like Elijah’s, so that we may know ourselves more deeply, realizing that it is not our own ability that spreads the gospel or draws people. We will then willingly humble ourselves, no longer stealing God’s glory, but instead always rejoicing, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17). In this way, God can freely use us to accomplish His great work.