From Jezreel to Horeb
Audio:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/IBjhXCOTpTk?list=PL4ByrircmXL4AIWLkRrpeoEq_A6VmA54y
It was because Elijah was a man of large faith that God could use him in this grave crisis in the history of Israel. Faith such as this is needed in the world today--faith that will lay hold on the promises of God's word and refuse to let go until Heaven hears. Faith is an essential element of prevailing prayer. That night a messenger aroused the weary prophet and delivered to him the word of Jezebel: So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. 1 Kings 19:2
It would seem that after showing courage so undaunted, after triumphing so completely over king and priests and people, Elijah could never afterward have given way to despondency nor been awed into timidity. But he who had been blessed with so many evidences of God's loving care was not above the frailties of mankind, and in this dark hour his faith and courage forsook him.
Elijah should not have fled from his post of duty. He feared that the reformation begun on Carmel might not be lasting; and depression seized him.
The faithful Job, in the day of his affliction and darkness, declared:
O that my grief were throughly weighed,
And my calamity laid in the balances together!
The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind (Job 38:1), and revealed to His servant the might of His power. When Job caught a glimpse of his Creator, he abhorred himself and repented in dust and ashes. Then the Lord was able to bless him abundantly and to make his last years the best of his life.
Did God forsake Elijah in his hour of trial? Oh, no! He loved His servant no less when Elijah felt himself forsaken of God and man than when, in answer to his prayer, fire flashed from heaven and illuminated the mountaintop.
And now, as Elijah slept, a soft touch and a pleasant voice awoke him. He started up in terror, as if to flee, fearing that the enemy had discovered him. But the pitying face bending over him was not the face of an enemy, but of a friend. God had sent an angel from heaven with food for His servant. Arise and eat, the angel said. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. 1 Kings 19:5,6