…for the journey is too great for you. – 1 Kings 19:7, Amplified Bible

Be on your guard after a great spiritual victory, for it is immediately following a great spiritual triumph that you are most susceptible to falling into the darkness of despair.

In 1 Kings 18, Elijah experienced his greatest spiritual victory. In front of the entire nation of Israel, he triumphantly stood for God, he miraculously accessed God’s power over fire and rain, and he righteously slew hundreds of idolatrous prophets in the name of The Lord. But following this triumph, a death threat from Queen Jezebel sent Elijah running scared! After fleeing over eighty miles from Israel to Judah to escape Jezebel’s reach, Elijah despaired, asking God to take his life.

Fearful, frantic, and alone, Elijah simply wanted out. He wanted to escape this life of danger, frustration, and persecution and replace it with the eternal rest his soul greatly craved. But he still had work to do, so God refreshed him, picked him up, and sent him on his next assignment.

The manner in which God restored Elijah is both instructive and inspiring, for every child of God who strives to do His work will, on multiple occasions, reach the point of desperation that Elijah reached. So, how did God restore the despairing prophet?

1) God helped Elijah bear the burden. Not once but twice, God sent an angel to feed his weary soldier. He took pity on Elijah’s exhausted state, and He provided for Elijah’s needs when Elijah could not provide for his own. There will be times when God will recognize, just as He recognized in Elijah’s case, that the journey is too great for us (1 Kings 19:7). We will become exhausted, and when we do, He will come alongside us in a supernatural way so that we will not have to bear the burden alone.

2) God reminded Elijah of His power. After being refreshed by God, Elijah continued to run for his life. He eventually hid in a cave on Mount Horeb, and while he was there God called to Elijah, “What are you doing here?” After Elijah responded that “I’m running for my life,” God shook the mountain with a supernatural wind, with a mighty earthquake, and with a raging fire. Then, after demonstrating His power, He called to Elijah in a still, small voice and gave the prophet his next assigment. God knows when we run from our Jezebels that we have lost sight of His strength and that we have given way too much credit to the strength of man. In such times, God will take it upon Himself to remind us of just who He is – the almighty, unconquerable Creator of the universe. Once reminded of who God is, the fear of man fades away.

3) God informed Elijah that he was not alone. Twice Elijah complained to God that he was all alone as a follower of God. But in 1 Kings 19:18 God informed Elijah that he was not alone. There were seven thousand other people in Israel who still followed the Lord, and in that fact, Elijah was encouraged. It is very common for the Christian worker to experience loneliness, and that feeling of loneliness can be very debilitating. But God never leaves us alone! God always has His army, and there are always others like us who have not bowed the knee to Baal. We can rest assured that we are not alone in the battle for righteousness, and we can take comfort in that fact!

God knows there will be days when our strength will fail us, and we should know that, too. But we should also know that when those days come, we will not be left to ourselves. God will always be there, bearing our burden with us, reminding us of His strength, and encouraging us with the reality that we are never alone.