A beautiful story in the Bible is that of the prophet Elijah and his escape to Mount Horeb found in 1 Kings 18 and 19. In this account, Elijah has just called down fire from Heaven and killed 450 prophets of Baal—a great victory; however, Jezebel gets wind of it and sends a message to Elijah threatening to take his life, so he runs.
He is discouraged, depressed, and overwhelmed. In fact, at one point during his journey, Elijah prays that he might die.
This does not sound beautiful yet, right? That’s because the beauty is in the details of the story. On Elijah’s journey, God lovingly sends an angel to minister to him, and when he arrives at the mountain of God (Mount Horeb), though Elijah hides in a cave, God calls to him. God understood Elijah’s desperation; He understood Elijah’s fear, and God knew Elijah needed to hear from Him and did not condemn him but treated him gently:
“…And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.”
Sometimes God speaks to us softly as He did with Elijah because that’s what we need. If you’re at the end of yourself today, listen for His still small voice.
–Katie Botello
