When God Whispers.
1 Kings 19:1-4NKJV
Introduction: A fifty-five-year-old woman threw herself from her fourteenth-floor apartment to the ground below. Minutes before her death, she saw a workman washing the windows of a nearby building. She greeted him and smiled, and he smiled and said hello to her. When he turned his back, she jumped.
On a very neat and orderly desk she had left this note: "I can't endure one more day of this loneliness. My phone never rings! I never get letters! I don't have any friends!"
Another woman who lived just across the hall told reporters, "I wish I had known she felt so lonely. I'm lonesome myself."
You and I are surrounded by such people who experience loneliness and despair. The person living unknowingly in a crowded city. The foreigner. The rich and the poor alike. The divorcee and single parent. The young and old person. The business executive, and the unemployed, and even pastors.
No one is immune from loneliness. Even godly men and women sometimes experience loneliness in their pilgrimage through this world.
Elijah stands out in the Old Testament as God's most dramatic, forceful prophet. He stopped the rain, challenged a king face to face, produced fire from heaven, ordered 850 false prophets executed, and accurately predicted the day when a three-year drought would end. Yet in the New Testament we read, "Elijah was a man just like us" (James 5:17). He also experienced times of loneliness and despair.
Listen to today’s text, I Kings 19:1-4NKJV And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”
Elijah amygdala (?'migd?l?) had been working in overdrive, Elijah was emotionally drained, with little to no adrenaline left.
There is a little almond-shaped part of our brain called the amygdala (?'migd?l?).
The amygdala is responsible for emotions and survival instincts. When you're afraid, the amygdala lights up like a pinball machine, producing a fright or flight respond. The amygdala deploys a tsunami of adrenaline, preparing the body for action. That's a good thing if you hiking a trail and come across a poisonous snake poised to strike. You need to get out of its way quickly the amygdala did it's job.
1 Kings 19, Elijah a prophet of God that accomplished 8 major miracles in his ministry. Elijah, a slayer of hundreds, Elijah, a provider for a widow and her son. Elijah, God’s man.
1 Kings 19:3-5TM When Elijah saw how things were, he ran for dear life to Beersheba, far in the south of Judah. He left his young servant there and then went on into the desert another day’s journey. He came to a lone broom bush and collapsed in its shade, wanting in the worst way to be done with it all—to just die: “Enough of this, God! Take my life—I’m ready to join my ancestors in the grave!” Exhausted, he fell asleep under the lone broom bush.
Suddenly an angel shook him awake and said, “Get up and eat!”
Once while I was traveling south bound on I-75 going into Atlanta, a ladder-truck was in front of me, we were all traveling over 75mph, and all the sudden one of its ladders came soaring into the air coming straight into my windshield. My amygdala did its job. As I braced myself, the ladder went from soaring in mid-air, to straight down, as my car jumped over it. It was a miracle.
Needless to say, I exited my car, got out in the medium, with a young lady behind me, we both were very shook-up, with my hands and legs shaking uncontrollably.
The problem is that the amygdala is not objective—The way it responds to a ladder floating in midair, is the same way it responds to a hurtful conversation.
The way it responds to a noise letting you know a burglar has broken into your house, is the same way it responds to a notification letting you know your bank account is overdrawn.
So, what do I do; So, what do you do?
Again, What do we do?
Think of your Amygdala (?'migd?l?) as your twitchy, amped-up, over caffeinated, overstimulated, always on edge, high blood pressure cousin.
Never fear, there is another part of your brain called the prefrontal cortex. It’s the part of your brain that is rational. Therefore think of your prefrontal cortex as your thoughtful, levelheaded, realistic, even-tempered uncle with a law degree.
Elijah’s amygdala (?'migd?l?) screams Jezebel’s going to kill me; however, if Elijah could have listened to his prefrontal cortex—“Elijah you just killed 850 false prophets—what’s one more Jezebel?”
However, the prophet of God listened to his amygdala, and allowed the devil to play havoc in his mind, so Elijah the-man-of-God fled.
Elijah was spent. His run-away negative thoughts spiraled out of control and lead him into a deep depression. He prayed that he would die.
Notice how irrational that is—His biggest fear was that Jezebel would kill him, so… he wanted to die.
It doesn't make sense. Elijah was not thinking clearly. Because he was at the end of his rope. He had hit a wall. Done. Finished. Broken. Over it. All of it.
Have you been there?
Again, 1 Kings 19:4a Elijah cries out, “I have had enough, Lord, he said. Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”
I can do the same thing—Can you? “From my life is so hard, too—I can never get it all done, too—I don't like my life, too—no one understands, too—I can’t stand all the pressure, too—it’s always going to be like this.”
Why? Because of problems. We get fixated on the presence of our problems, and we lose focus on the presence of God.
Elijah’s name should have been enough to be his reminder—Elijah’s name meant, “Yahweh is my God.”
Remember the words Paul wrote from prison?
Philippians 4:4-7TPT Be cheerful with joyous celebration in every season of life. Let your joy overflow! 5 And let gentleness be seen in every relationship, for our Lord is ever near.
6 Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell Him every detail of your life, 7 then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ.
Elijah forgot that the Lord is near, He even forgot what his name meant—he functioned through his amygdala (?'migd?l?), and forgot about his prefrontal cortex, and his past victories!
In 1 Kings 19:5-8, what does God do? He sends an angel to minister to Elijah and gives him food and water.
It might be time for you to take an angel break—a rest, a sabbatical.
Notice, A godly rest, isn’t a rest from spiritual things, on the contrary, it’s a spiritual feast. Feasting in God’s word, feasting in prayer, feasting in devotions, feasting in praise and worship!
When your (?'migd?l?) amygdala, tells you everything to worry about, I want you to practice this one exercise.
Illustration: Take a box and put any worry that comes to your mind, If you begin to think about it again, take it out of the box and tell God I can’t trust you right now with this worry.
God prepared Elijah for a 40-day journey. This journey ended in Horeb, or Mount Sinai, the mountain of God.
It was time for God to teach the prophet of God—Elijah, a lesson.
Listen to, 1 Kings 19:9-10NKJV And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” (God said, He has 7,000 that hadn’t bowed a knee).
Remember this, God has a life-lesson with your name on it!
1 Kings 19:11-12NKJV Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” 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; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
Silence, then a whisper. God was in the whisper.
But why would God whisper to Elijah?
When you are overwhelmed and feeling anxious, if you listen for his voice, you'll find that God is whispering to you. PH
But why? Why does God whisper? He whispers because, He is so close.
And He whispers to draw us close.
Think about it: When you are sitting next to a loved one, and they whisper in your ear, what do you do? You lean into them. And you listen closely.
What did Elijah learn on the mountain that day? When you've had enough, God is enough!
Elijah had endured so much hardship. He cried out to God, “I have had enough.’ ‘I want to die!”
Elijah didn't understand what he really needed. He didn't need to die. He didn't even need to have God solve all his problems. He just needed God.
Say this, “God is enough!”
Psalm 145:17-19TPT You are fair and righteous in everything you do, and your love is wrapped into all your works. 18 You draw near to those who call out to you, listening closely, especially when their hearts are true. 19 Every godly one receives even more than what they ask for. For you hear what their hearts really long for, and you bring them your saving strength.
The Lord is close—He is near. He will never leave me nor forsake me. Nothing can separate me from His love. He is always with me. In fact, He’s with me right this very minute. I am never alone, and He is enough for me. He watches over me, and He guides me with His loving eye upon me. God is close, and He wants to draw me close. I will lean into Him and listen for His whisper.
Benediction.
