Week 36 | www.ssvoice.com

Elijah’s Challenge – Part 6, In the Valley
2004 : Week 36  |  Website Version

Last week we saw Elijah’s spiritual and emotional state change instantly. One moment he was savoring a victory of the Lord and the next he was fleeing for his life. We noted that life could be like this for us, since being a Christian is at times difficult. We can have moments of incredible victory, peace and bliss, but they could be followed by turmoil. In troubled times, we can feel lonely, and at some point we’ve probably all thought, “Where are you Lord?” These feelings of isolation can be magnified when the problems follow a season of victory, since God feels very close to us, in those times.

While Elijah’s experience teaches us that we will have times ‘in the valley’; it also teaches us that we will never go through the valley alone. God is still beside us when we meet the obstacles in life; God is our strength and comforter. God understands the pain we feel, and He will be there to heal us. Remember the state of despair Elijah was in at the end of the last message:

         ⁴ But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers."
⁵ He lay down and slept under a juniper tree…

1 Kings 19:4-5 (NASB)

Exhausted and scared, Elijah falls asleep under a tree. Some might criticize Elijah for a lack of faith and endurance in his walk with the Lord, but the Lord doesn’t; He sends an angel to comfort Elijah,

         ⁵ He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, "Arise, eat."
⁶ Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.
⁷ The angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you."
⁸ So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.

1 Kings 19:5-8 (NASB)

God knows how frail we can be in this fallen world. He understands that what Elijah was going through was difficult. He knows that Elijah was physically and mentally exhausted. In fact, the angel tells Elijah his burden is great, “The angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you." (1 Kings 19:7)

Elijah didn’t have to tell God that his was too much to bear; God new it. Further, God comes to provide miraculous comfort, healing and strength to Elijah. The Lord provides Elijah with a hot meal and a jar of water, but this is no ordinary meal. The meal that the Lord provides Elijah gives him energy for an additional 40 days and 40 nights. God will provide, and He can provide miraculously for us, when it is required.

Anyone who preaches that the Christian life is to be without pain is a wrong. This is not what Jesus taught us. Anyone who preaches that the Lord has abandoned us in times of turmoil is equally as wrong. We will have times of pain, but we will never walk through them alone. God will be with us to minister and heal us, until we’re ready to go forward again.

The story of Elijah teaches us of God’s provision in a very tangible and beautiful way. Again, the Lord is, and will always be there for those He has called. No matter what the circumstance, no matter what the odds and no matter how we feel, the Lord will never abandon us. In a very real way, Elijah’s story is further proof of the truth we find in the words of this Psalm of David:

¹ The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
² He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
³ He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
⁶ Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Psalm 23 (NASB)

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you today and always…

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1 Kings 19:5-7 (NASB)

⁵  He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, "Arise, eat."
⁶  Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.
⁷  The angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you."

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	⁴ But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers." ⁵ He lay down and slept under a juniper tree…
	1 Kings 19:4-5 (NASB)


	⁵ He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, "Arise, eat." ⁶ Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. ⁷ The angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you." ⁸ So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.
	1 Kings 19:5-8 (NASB)