Have you ever had times when you felt God was distant from you?

If so, may I just say you’re in very good company!

When we think about the prophet Isaiah and his miraculous interaction at Mt. Carmel with the 450 prophets of the false god Baal, we could easily conclude that he certainly never would feel distant from God, right?

1 Kings 18:36-39 says,

“Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.” Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”

Almost immediately following the obvious mighty hand of God working through Elijah at Mt. Carmel … Queen Jezebel threatened his life, and this is how he reacts here in 1 Kings 19:3-4,

“Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”

We’ll look more into how we might be able to relate to Elijah’s response in the next post.