Consider Elijah’s pronouncement of judgment on Ahab: “[God] says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you. I will wipe out your descendants…because you have aroused my anger and have caused Israel to sin’” (1 Kings 21:21-22 NIV).

This solemn prophecy shook Ahab. “He tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted” (v. 27). God responded to this gesture of humility by postponing the penalty of killing all Ahab’s sons.

Years later the seventy remaining descendants of Ahab died by the sword of King Jehu. God sends them message after message, prophet after prophet, yet they slay the innocent and take what is not theirs to take. They forget what sustains them. In the end they perish at their own folly.

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Elijah was depressed. Among God’s word to him were these: “Go back the way you came through the desert to Damascus. When you get there anoint Hazael…Then anoint Jehu…Finally, anoint Elisha…to succeed you as prophet” (1 Kings 19:15-17 MSG).

These assignments add up to one point: Get moving. God’s message to the prophet was “I still have work for you to do. You may think you’re alone; you’re not. Thousands will stand with you. It’s time for you to get back in the game.”

God’s message to you is this: You are more than the sum of your dark days. I bought you, and I have a destiny for you. Now, with my help, let’s get back in the game.

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When darkness descends, flee solitude. 1 Kings 19:11 (NIV): “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’”

God wanted Elijah’s attention. Elijah obeyed and beheld a display of power. The roar of tempests bounced off the canyon walls. “But the Lord was not in the wind” (1 Kings 19:11). An earthquake sent tremors through the desert floor. “But the Lord was not in the earthquake” (1 Kings 19:11). Next came fire that leapt to the height of the trees. “But the Lord was not in the fire” (1 Kings 19:12). Then… “the sound of a low whisper” (1 Kings 19:12).

The soothing touch of God was needed for  Elijah’s season of sadness. Listen for it…listen for Him.

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For six long weeks Elijah had walked across the wilderness of Sinai. Finally he reached and began to ascend Mt. Horeb. Elijah was in search of God.

And, according to 1 Kings 19:9 (NKJV), “the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” Elijah answered with a complaint. I did everything you told me to do, but your people have rejected your covenants and killed your prophets. I’m the only one left in the country, and now they want to kill me too.

Well, the Lord gave Elijah a word. According to verse 12, our Creator spoke to the prophet with a still, small voice. He will speak a word to you as well. Let his Word, living and active, speak to you. Open your Bible and listen.

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Elijah was depressed and exhausted. “Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat.’…He ate and drank and then lay down again” (1 Kings 19:5-6 NIV).

What does God say to the sad and weary? Be refreshed. God told Elijah to eat and sleep. The drama on Mt. Carmel. The execution of the false priests. The twenty-seven-mile run in front of Ahab’s chariot. He had reason to be depleted.

God rested on the seventh day. The world didn’t collapse when he took a Sabbath. It won’t fall apart if you do the same. If you are depressed and feel like giving up, his word to you is “get refreshed.”

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Reading from 1 Kings 18:45-46, “Meanwhile the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.  The power of the Lord came on Elijah and…he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel” (NIV).

Elijah, the prophet who brought down fire, is now the prophet who brings down rain.  Elijah, the prophet who knelt on Mount Carmel in prayer, becomes the prophet who descends in a flurry.

His action inspires us to do likewise.  Lift up your eyes!  Trust the promises of God.  Apart from them life will beat you up.  But armed with them, you will weather any storm.  How different our lives would be if we heeded the promises and not the problems!

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The promises of God glitter like diamonds on the pages of Scripture. Will we gather them? Claim them? Delight in them? Pursue them? Elijah did. He prayed, not just once, but seven times!

“Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.” The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea” (1 Kings 18:43-44). God’s answer came as a cloud the size of a hand, and that was enough to excite Elijah.

Faith sees the distant cloud. Faith sees promises as though they were fulfilled. Can you see the hint of an answer to your prayer?

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Christ followers hear a language that others miss. In  2 Kings chapter 6 we see this truth played out in dramatic fashion. Elijah’s protégé, Elisha, followed in his mentor’s footsteps and upset the powers of the age. The king of Aram decided to take the young prophet out. He sent a kill squad. They surrounded the city by night. It appeared to be the end.

But the man of God saw what his frightened servant could not. “And Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see’” (2 Kings 6:17). One saw through the filter of fear. The other, the filter of faith. Elisha learned this lesson from Elijah.  We’d be wise to do the same.

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Immediately after the Mount Carmel experience, Elijah instructed Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain” (1 Kings 18:41 NIV). But then we read that the sky was cloudless. How do we explain his announcement? I found the answer in the Hebrew word that is translated sound. Elijah was choosing to hear God’s covenant and disregard the circumstances.

The circumstances: the silent sky, the blazing sun, dearth of clouds. The promise of God, the words spoken to Elijah, said, “Pull out your umbrella.” Elijah chose to hear the “voice” of God’s promise.

What about us? Multiple times each day, we choose the message we follow. Are we reeling from the problems, or are we standing on God’s promises? 

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What tragedy has rendered your life a desert? Has God allowed a season of dryness to come your way? Then learn from the life of Elijah. He trusted the promise despite the predicament.

The predicament? Drought. The promise? It appears in 1 Kings 18:1 (NKJV): “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.” God had set a limit upon the predicament, and Elijah knew it was just a matter of time before the rain returned.

Do you know the same? “Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5 NLT). The Bible never guarantees the absence of a drought, but it emphatically assures that the drought will not end in eternal defeat.

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