Hiding in Fear

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1 Kings 19:9 “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?”

Having faced down the prophets of Baal with tremendous faith, Elijah was then faced with the wrath of Jezebel. Then it is here that fear took over him! Elijah ran and hid in a cave. When the word of the Lord came to him it was very direct: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” That was not the place that the Lord wanted His prophet to be. Not the place physically and certainly not the place spiritually!

This question speaks to all of us when we are acting in fear or disobedience. The fact is, we don’t have to physically go anywhere to still hear this question. We can be hiding at home in fear or self pity for the Lord to say “What are you doing here my child?” We could have worked ourselves into a state of anger or bitterness for the Lord to ask this question. And what response God is looking for? For Elijah, God was simply looking for honesty. He was looking for Elijah to acknowledge that he was operating in fear, not faith, and had taken his eyes off the Lord and onto the circumstances. It is the same with us. He requires an honest appraisal on our behalf how we got to where we are. Only then can we start to move forward in the right direction again.