1Kings 19:8-18
“So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.
And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
10 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
14 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
15 The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him."
Last week we saw Elijah worn out, depressed and discouraged - he ran out of fear - the threat of Jezebel to take his life.
In his discouraged, depressed state he’s also feeling extremely lonely. In this passage alone he states twice he is the only one left who loves and follows God. He’s feeling alone - lost and alone and wanting to give up. there are times we can relate.
A number of years ago the following ad was placed in a Midwestern newspaper: "I will listen to you talk for 30 minutes without a comment for $5.00." Sounds like a scam, doesn't it? It was not. Person placing ad received 10-20 calls a day.
As his UCLA football team suffered through a poor season in the early 1970s, head coach Pepper Rodgers came under intense criticism and pressure from alumni and fans. Things got so bad, he remembers with a smile, that friends became hard to find. “My dog was my only true friend,” Rodgers says of that year. “I told my wife that every man needs at least two good friends—and she bought me another dog.”
Loneliness. It's not uncommon.
There are two (2) basic types of loneliness:
a. GEOGRAPHICAL LONELINESS.
1) What special military ops people feel alone in desert.
2) This is loneliness we feel on business trips; phone call helps--not the same as being there!
b. LONELINESS OF SPIRIT.
1) Husband & wife under same roof but distant.
2) Unwed mother whose former lover deserts her.
3) Elderly person who waits for call/mail/visit.
There are times when we all feel lonely.
1) New town, new job, new school, loss of loved one.
2) That kind of loneliness is natural--won't last.
3) But for some, loneliness runs much deeper.
-Sometimes loneliness is a choice.
We turn back on folks who really care (friends, family).
we can choose against love; to squander relationships;
loneliness is a decision--yours!
with Elijah it was his decision - in vs. 3 he took off on his own, then left his servant and traveled further by himself.
-Sometimes we throw a self-pity party
we make it worse than it really is. Oh whoa is me!
I don’t know why we pout in our self-pity, no one’s around
vs. 4 “while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors."
-Sometimes we exaggerate loneliness.
We can blow up a minor mishap into a huge ordeal.
a little argument w/ the spouse can result in sleeping in separate rooms for a few days.
in vs. 10 & 14 Elijah exaggerates his situation and speaks of how he is the only one left.
Funny thing is - he’s not the only one left and he knows it!
1st there was Ob. who he connected with who is a devout follower of God, scripture tells us, and not only just Ob, b/c Ob also told Elijah that there were 100 more hidden from Jezebel.
So now we just went from 1 left to 101 left - that’s a huge increase, especially if you break it by percentage!
You’re not the only one left Elijah.
Regardless of what the case may be, sometimes we create this loneliness ourselves, sometimes we don’t but regardless of how it’s happened the bottom line is if you FEEL lonely, then that’s all that really matters at that point. and this is how Elijah felt.
in vs. 10 & 14 he says I’m the only one left, that’s how he FEELS... it’s interesting that Elijah says he’s alone twice and twice God asks Elijah, “what are you doing here?” mmmm...
Elijah’s in a cave, fearful, alone, no one gets me, no one struggles like me - tell me if this resonates w/ you - no one has the thoughts I have... if you’re married, no1 argues w/ their spouse like me... if people knew the real me, I would die.. people might be depressed, but no1 like me... people don’t hate people like I do, people don’t have an infatuation w/ their middle finger when they’re on I-10 like I do, right?
We’re so afraid to come out of the cave, b/c we feel like no1 gets us - we feel alone and we want freedom from that.
Look here how God remedies that - you see He doesn’t do it by a great worship experience, a fire or earthquake or anything like that. He doesn’t say, “Hey, we’ll sing 8 songs and then you’ll get it” although that can & could certainly happen, but not here, and not usually - look at what God does: He tells Elijah to get back to work (last week)
18 “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him."
This is what God is basically saying, “you think you’re the only left, but if you head over that mountain you’ll see 7,000 just like you
How does God remedy it? Community
Hebrews 10:24-25
You know it was George Gallop who said, “Americans are among the loneliest people in the world.”
The most advanced society, the most technologically driven people ever created, yet we feel all the time, that we’re in this thing alone, doing life by ourselves.
Although we work in offices and people are around us all the time, we drive into our neighborhoods full of houses, our head can hit the pillow at night and we feel like we’re all alone. Ever felt that way?
How many of you would agree life is confusing at times - raise hands? how about difficult at times?
Then why in the world would we want to try to figure it all alone - why try and do this journey by ourselves? So often in life we think, I’ll just go at it alone and that is not how God created it to be.
God created this network w/in the church to help us do life.
We believe here at FOCUS* that the church must grow larger and smaller at the same time. (Always reaching out to others growing the church and at the same time doing life together in a multitude of small community groups)
I’m not real sure how you walked in here felling this morning and when I mentioned Gallop said Americans are some of the loneliest people it may have resonated with you or maybe you have thought, I have a lot of friends but the relationships are about this deep.
Ladies and gentlemen God did not create you to live alone - He created you to do life with other people
What’s the big deal about community - we all have needs:
1. I NEED OTHERS TO KNOW ME.
Beyond the superficial, I need others to know me - not know who I am, I want others to know me. (it has been one of the frustrating things to deal with in moving here to Houston - left tight knit group of back in Cali.) I want that deep relationship, not just business, not just let’s go play hoops once a month, someone to know me. And there’s not 1 of us in this room that does not have this desire w/in us to be known.
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing… Hebrews 10:25a
It’s interesting that the writer continues to make this a plural assumption, ‘Let US not’ - God created us for community - for others to know us. Doing life with others is God’s answer to loneliness
Community is God’s answer to … LONELINESS.
2. I NEED OTHERS TO WALK WITH ME.
I need to know I’m not doing this journey by myself.
What a shame, when we hit difficult spots in life and wish we had someone around to tell us what’s next - God put this process in place, this network called community w/in the church for us to do life with to know we’re not alone.
Maybe parenting issues arise, were not sure how to handle something, “I wish we had some others in our lives to help”
Maybe a job/career change, “I sure would like some input from a close friend” We feel like we’re in it all alone.
Community is God’s answer to … SPIRITUAL IMMATURITY.
Do you know what we learn from others in our lives that we cant get from a seminar or a book, real life experiences, been there done that. Some of the greatest lessons I’ve learned in life didn’t come from a book or seminar, they came from another persons life b/c they help grow you up. “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17 Ever hit that phase in life where it's all about you - it’s all about me, my stuff, my life and in that there are times I need others to walk w/ me so I can grow up.
3. I NEED OTHERS TO CARE FOR ME.
Let us consider (think about)how we may spur (encourage, urge) one another on toward love…Hebrews 10:24
Let’s just talk, there’s just times when we get down, isn’t there? Isn’t there times when you just hit a wall -
you just need someone to come along a put their hand on your back and say keep your head up, keep going, you’re gonna make it - do you ever get that? Do you need that? I know I do, even recently
But you know what, we cant get it just coming here for an hour on Sunday - not even if you do lunch occasionally
We all hit a crisis, there are times where there’s just no answers and life is not easy - those days are comin’ and when they do we are going to want someone in our lives walking w/ us and caring for us.
Listen folks, no one will just walk in if we haven’t cultivated that relationship - it happens spending time together -
the best way is to get hooked up in-community, get plugged in to a community group (guys thur, girls tue.)
You see the enemy knows, if he can keep you isolated he can keep you down - look at God’s answer
Community is God’s answer to … DESPAIR.
From feeling like you’re going down and there’s nobody there to help you - there’s just something about being there with other people - Christianity, this journey is not meant to be done alone, it’s a team game.
We could have an amazing time together on Sundays, great worship, God’s Word may pulsate within you, I’m talking you walk out of here different - which is incredible and only by God’s Holy Spirit, but that alone is not enough, that is not how God created us. God created us for community.
4. I NEED OTHERS TO SERVE WITH ME.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward … good deeds. Hebrews 10:24
B/c we are selfish-driven people our lives tend to focus only on our needs, our wants, our desires so I need other people around me to remind me that it’s not all about MUAH!
We are to serve others
It’s one of the reasons we’re involved in the Montrose Street Church -
we just give, we just serve... together
Community is God’s answer to … SELFISH LIVING.
It’s His answer to ‘it’s all about us’
5. I NEED OTHERS TO WATCH OUT FOR ME.
…but let us encourage one another… Hebrews 10:25b
Community is God’s answer to … SPIRITUAL ATTACKS.
If you were going out to war and the battle is looming, one of the 1st things we want to know is, “who’s got my back?”
Would you agree?
The Bible tells us in Ephesians we are in a war, and the battle is not on the ground, it’s in the spiritual realm.
We need others to have our backs, to pray for us, lift us up, keep us in mind.
Here’s the deal guys, I know that you know God, I know that you have Christ, I know you have your bible... you need someone with skin on who can talk about your value & the significance of your place, your person, somebody who understands how you’d love to pinch the heads off your kids, somebody who understands what it feels like to work for that pushy boss - life can be hard, it can be a battle, we need others who will be there for us -
you’ll find them in-community... get plugged in, & stay
connected,
Make it a PRIORITY.
A sign of growth in the world of nature is change - change in the dimensions of a tree, fruit appearing on the vine, flowers blooming - in a similar way, change for us means new levels of maturity, of understanding, of the way we relate to family and friends - But what does it take for change to occur?
GET CONNECTED
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