Articles
Important Questions - 14
“What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:9, 13)
God asks this question of the great prophet not for information, but introspection. He knows what has brought Elijah to this place, but He wants Elijah to ponder it for himself. It is a question we should periodically ask ourselves: What am I doing …
1) In this phase of my life?
2) In this frame of mind?
3) In this congregation?
4) In this moral dilemma?
Where we are is usually the result of where we have been going for a while. Trigger events often reveal that we have moved further than we realize. In Elijah’s case, his attitude was being shaped long before his contest on Mt. Carmel. King Ahab had been in power long enough for God to send a punitive famine on Israel; Jezebel had been exterminating faithful prophets. Elijah was so low that even his Carmel victory didn’t hearten him.
Sometimes we harbor debilitating attitudes that don’t have an apparent negative impact, but if allowed to continue they may morph into a deadly condition. This is why we need the daily maintenance of study, meditation and prayer.
