When Faith Runs Out

Well, good morning. Welcome to Twin Lakes Church. My name is Jessica. I'm one of the pastors here on staff. And typically, you find me down in the gym with the junior high students kind of on the end of campus way over there. Or sometimes, you'll find me driving the Twin Lakes bus to some exotic location like raging waters, inadvertently learning the lyrics to more pop songs than I will ever admit that I know.

And it's been a little while since I was up here in Big Church sharing with all of you. And in part, that is because I went on sabbatical and I got married, which is awesome. He's down there. So this is my husband, Drew, and our two dogs. And then 10 days after we got married, we left to Zambia on a mission trip with Twin Lakes Church and a team. And then we had to move and we're remodeling our house. So it's been a busy 18 months.

However, I am excited to be in Big Church-- that's what we still call you guys up here-- with you this weekend as we continue our Small Faith Big God series. And so far, we've learned in this series that even the teeny, tiniest droplet of faith in an all-powerful God is enough. Why? Because it's not about the amount of faith that I have or the amount of faith that you have, but about the God in which we put our faith.

So grab your message notes in your bulletin and let's get going. Did you know that we are more vulnerable following a great success? Well, it's true. And sadly, it's a truth that the climbing community knows all too well. In May of 2016, after reaching the summit of Mount Everest, Eric Arnold and Maria Stridum died on the descent. Even though both climbers had enough bottled oxygen to safely reach a lower elevation, and even though they were climbing with a larger group of climbers, they didn't make it.

No one in the group noticed the severity of their symptoms. And so after summiting the highest peak in the world, they never made it home. Just one year before his own accidental death, in an interview, Eric Arnold said this. He said, "Two thirds of accidents happen on the way down. You get your fork and you think, 'I have made my goal.' The most dangerous part is still ahead of you." Another climber put it like this. He said, "When you fall uphill, the momentum carrying you down is minimal when you first contact the slope. Thus, regaining control is not so difficult. Whereas falling downhill, you hit the slope already accelerating, which makes arresting the fall more difficult from the onset."

Isn't that the truth? When we're moving towards a goal, our determination and expectation motivate us to climb the mountain. Once we reach our goal, we experience euphoria. We made it a physical, emotional, and spiritual high. But we can't stay up on that mountain. We have to turn around and start the potentially dangerous journey downward. And we're fatigued from the climb. And so as we go, we don't carefully choose our steps. We stumble a little bit, and our downhill momentum accelerates us. And gaining speed along the way, we tumble down in a blaze of glory, usually ending even lower than when we started.

In youth ministry, we refer to this as the camp high. You come home from a weekend winter camp or a week-long summer camp, and you are super stoked on Jesus. And you've made what you hope are lifelong friends and a lifelong commitment of faith. But then you come home. And those siblings, well, you didn't really miss them that much while you were at camp anyway. And your parents, they kind of have some rules that you're not really excited about. And your classmates at school, they put pressure on you to do things that you know you shouldn't do or that you swore at camp you wouldn't do because you were following Jesus. And life is hard. And it doesn't meet your expectations. And your faith that was so abundant while up in the mountains at camp seems to have all but dried up.

Well, this is exactly what happened to the Old Testament prophet Elijah. After a literal mountaintop high, he experienced one of the lowest, if not the lowest, point in his entire life. So what happened? How could a servant of the Lord, a devoted prophet, a miracle worker be an example in our Small Faith Big God series? I mean, wasn't Elijah's faith a constant example of big faith in a big God? Nope, not really. Elijah's faith was anything but constant. In fact, in 1 Kings 19, his faith is barely detectable. There may be a few drops left in his tank, but he pretty much used it all going full throttle in this God showdown on a mountain between the God of Israel and the false god Baal.

So you can grab a Bible from the pew in front of you and turn to 1 Kings 19 on page 255. Or you can use a Bible app or read along on the screens in front of you. Before we dive into 1 Kings 19, though, we need to review a few things from the life and times of Elijah to really set the scene. So Elijah was a prophet of the Lord, and he lived during the time of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. And those were two of the most wicked rulers the world has ever seen. 1 Kings 16 tells us that Ahab did more evil in the sight of the Lord than all of the other kings before him combined. So if you had taken every bad thing that all the other kings had done and mushed them into one big bad thing, Ahab was worse.

And Jezebel, her name has become synonymous with evil and immorality. And so together, these two rulers plunged Israel very, very deeply into idol worship. When Jezebel married Ahab and moved into town, she brought all of her prophets of Baal with her, and she ordered that all the prophets of God be killed. So the Israelites were in religious confusion. Do they worship the god of their current queen, this god Baal? Or do they worship the god of their ancestors, the Lord, who brought them out of slavery in Egypt?

And Elijah decided-- well, probably prompted by God-- Elijah suggested having a kind of God showdown on Mount Carmel. And so each side, the prophets of Baal and Elijah would build an altar and offer a sacrifice, and then they would pray for God to accept their sacrifice. And whichever god sent down fire from heaven, that would be the god that the Israelites worshipped. And 1 Kings 18 tells us that the Israelites agreed to worship whichever god sent down fire from heaven.

So Elijah, the lone prophet of God-- it's like God and Elijah on one side, which looks just like Elijah. And then it's King Ahab, Queen Jezebel, and 450 prophets of Baal on the other side. They start this contest. And the prophets of Baal go first, and they build their altar and prepare their sacrifice, and then they start to pray. And they pray, and they pray, and they dance, and they sing, and they wail, and they even cut themselves for hours, and nothing happens.

And then around the middle of the day, Elijah says, OK, that's enough. It's my turn. But before he prays, Elijah has hundreds and hundreds of gallons of water brought up, and he drenches the sacrifice. So everything is soaked, and there's water running in a trough around the sacrifice. And he offers one simple prayer, and immediately, fire from heaven comes down and consumes everything. There is no longer any meat, any wood, any stones, or any water. There's one big burnt spot in the ground. And in response, the people of Israel fall down in worship. Very, very similar to how the disciples fell down in worship of Jesus in Baal's sermon last week after Jesus walked on water and calmed the storm.

And that day on Mount Carmel, Elijah demonstrates great faith. He and God take on Ahab, Jezebel, and all of their prophets, and they're victorious. What an incredible high. Elijah must have been thinking, well, that's it. The people have turned back to God. There's no denying that our God is the one true God, and Ahab and Jezebel will worship him. We are victorious. But everything does not go according to Elijah's expectations. Ahab and Jezebel, they don't change. In fact, they dig themselves even deeper into opposition to God, and their anger towards Elijah intensifies.

So we're going to pick up the story. In 1 Kings 19, verse 1, it's on page 225. Here's what it has to say. "When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way he had killed all the prophets of Baal." So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah. "May the gods strike me and even kill me by this time tomorrow if I have not killed you, just as you killed them." Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, Lord," he said. "Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died."

What happened? How did Elijah's attitude change so quickly? I mean, really, it's been about 24 hours since that high on Mount Carmel. Wasn't the dramatic display of God's power enough? Where is his faith? It has all but disappeared. Why? Because Elijah is afraid. And you know what? Fear interrupts faith and causes us not to trust. Elijah's faith was so evident on Mount Carmel, but it disappeared when he fled. Yet he must have had a few drops of faith because in his despair and disappointment, he doesn't turn his back on God. He actually turns toward God. And he prays to him.

Kind of an odd prayer because he says he wants to die, but he prays to him. He says, "I've had enough, Lord. Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have died." Elijah's claiming he wants to die. And if you stop to think about it, it's kind of an odd request because had he really wanted his life to end, he could have just stayed within reach of Jezebel, and she would have made sure it happened. But he didn't. And so he fled for his life, and then he's like, "I don't want to die." And it seems a little dramatic and a little adolescent to me. I'm around teenagers a lot. And so like a teenager bemoaning their own existence because something at school hasn't gone their way. They're saying, "My life is over. I can't go back. I can't face those people again."

You know, I don't think Elijah-- and I don't think any teenager that says that actually wants to die most of the time-- they're just at their end of their rope, and they don't know what to do. And that's what Elijah is feeling. And he's so focused on his own fear and his own disappointment that he can no longer see what God is doing. He has spiraled down into this crumpled pile of a prophet consumed with self-pity sitting alone under a tree in the middle of the wilderness.

Elijah is physically exhausted. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah ran alongside King Ahab's chariot as they went from Mount Carmel to Jezreel. And that's an 18-mile journey. So I like to run, and I've run distances, and running 18 miles kind of wears you out. And then after that-- that's not all he did. He ran 18 miles. And then very soon after that, he flees for his life. And he goes from north of Jerusalem, past Jerusalem, south to Beersheba, and then east into the wilderness. And so Elijah is simply worn out. I mean, he might just be sitting there because he has no energy to go anywhere else.

But his fatigue isn't just physical. He is also emotionally drained. I mean, in the last 24 to 36 hours, Elijah's experienced this incredible high of Mount Carmel, the excitement and the anticipation of God showing up in a huge, huge way. And then immediately after that, he experiences the fear and anxiety and horror as he flees for his life. And so he's been on this emotional roller coaster, and he has pushed past his limits. And that's not all. Elijah is also profoundly disappointed. Biblical scholars speculate that while he ran near King Ahab's chariot, he urged him to follow the Lord. Like Elijah's telling him, Ahab, how could you not pay attention to what you just saw in Mount Carmel? Turn and follow the Lord. He's the true God.

But Ahab doesn't listen. And so what Elijah had desperately desired for the Israelites and their rulers to turn to the Lord, it doesn't happen. And I don't know about you, but I have definitely been there in times in my life when I have felt physically exhausted, emotionally drained, and profoundly disappointed. And like Elijah, I find myself saying, Lord, I have had enough. I'm tired. I'm overwhelmed. I'm over it. And if we're honest, we find ourselves feeling like that maybe more often than we really want to admit.

And so this morning, we're going to take a closer look at this story so that we become more aware of that slippery descent into despair and how God comforts us and restores us in those times. So how does Elijah go so quickly from Mount Carmel to the desert and then eventually in a cave? How do we find ourselves dealing with disappointment so quickly after one of life's high points? Well, frequently, it looks a little bit like this. Desire. There is something you want that you don't have. It's true for all of us sitting in this room. Elijah wanted the Israelites to turn their hearts back toward God. And he wanted the same thing for Ahab and Jezebel.

Maybe for you, maybe you're single, and you'd really like to be in a relationship that leads towards marriage. Maybe you're married, and you'd really like children. Maybe you have children, and one of your children is making very harmful and destructive life choices. And you want nothing more than a healthy change for that child. Maybe there's a relationship in your life that is broken, and you really want healing. Or you want power over an addiction. Or maybe in the craziness of Santa Cruz, you want to stop renting and own your own home so you can do whatever you want to it whenever you want and paint it whatever color you want, and no one can say anything. Whatever it is, we all have desires. And often, those desires go unmet.

And we wrestle with that for a period of time, and then we reach kind of a state of resignation. And we learn to accept life the way it is. And we resign ourselves to things staying the same, to our relationship status staying the same, to always being a renter, to those we love not changing destructive patterns. And Elijah must have wrestled with this idea, too. He must have thought, I can spend my entire life calling the Israelites back to God, and they may never listen. A few people may change their hearts and really worship God, but a lot of people will waver back and forth. So Elijah had reached this point of resignation. And we do the same thing.

And out of self-protection or reality check, we think we may never get what we desire, and we're kind of OK with it. But then something happens, and there's a little bit of light or a little ray of hope. And our hope becomes rekindled. And so with this rekindled hope, sometimes it starts because there's a new relationship. There's a positive pregnancy test. There's a child that seems to take steps towards a healthier life, a period of sobriety, a relationship that looks like it's moving towards reconciliation. For Elijah, the showdown on Mount Carmel definitely rekindled his hope. The Lord showed up in an undeniable demonstration of power. And the Israelites fell down in worship.

And once again, Elijah thought, this is it. This is the moment that all of Israel will turn back to worship the Lord. This is what I've wanted to happen for so long. But it didn't happen. And once again, our expectations go unmet, and that fragile hope is shattered. And we find ourselves sitting with crushing disappointment-- a breakup, a divorce, a miscarriage, a relapse into addiction, more brokenness, more hurt, more pain. And this time, we're even lower than during our time of resignation. It's one thing to want something and not have it happen. And it's another for newly rekindled hope to be dashed. And we reach even deeper levels of despair. And this is exactly what happens to Elijah. He finds himself in a pit of despair.

And whenever I hear that phrase, I kind of hear it like this. The pit of despair. Because like Wesley in the classic movie The Princess Bride, Elijah is in a pit. And the life is slowly draining out of him. And he is incapable of changing his situation. But thankfully, that's not where the story ends. That's not where the Princess Bride ends. That's not where Elijah ends. That's not where we end. So let's keep reading in 1 Kings 19, verse 5. It says, "Then he, Elijah, lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, 'Get up and eat.' He looked around, and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.

Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, 'Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.' So he got up and ate and drank. And the food gave him enough strength to travel 40 days and 40 nights-- that's a long time-- to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. There he came to a cave where he spent the night. But the Lord said to him, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?' Elijah replied, 'I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they're trying to kill me too.

'Go out and stand before me on the mountain,' the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that rocks were torn loose. But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak, and he went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said to him, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?' And again he replied, 'I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they're trying to kill me too.'

Then the Lord told him, 'Go back the same way you came, and travel to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram, then anoint Jehu, grandson of Nimshih, to be king of Israel, and anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat-- you're really glad that's not your name. And I wouldn't pass that one on to your children either. '--from the town of Abel Mohola to replace you as my prophet. Anyone who escapes from Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and those who escape Jehu will be killed by Elisha. Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him."

You know, God does not leave Elijah sitting in the wilderness alone and helpless. And if you've seen the Princess Bride, you know Wesley does not escape the pit of despair. On his own, his friends come to find him. And God does the same for Elijah, and he will do the same for you. God meets us in our dark and desperate places. He climbs down into the pit with us. And once he's there, the first thing he does is renew our strength. Isaiah 40:31 tells us, "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength." And we see God do that here for Elijah. God does that for Elijah by meeting two very, very basic needs, food and rest. And these are physical needs.

Why does God meet Elijah's physical needs first? Because those are the most immediate and the most necessary. Without food and rest, we don't really function well. I don't know about you, but if I don't eat for a while, and by for a while, I mean by 10 a.m. and every few hours after that, I get kind of hangry. And you can ask my husband, Drew, or anyone that I've ever traveled with, that I need to eat. And they're like, yeah, just feed her. She'll be fine. And we know about these basic needs, yet when we're in an overwhelmed emotional state, it's so hard to take care of our own physical needs, even just for food or for rest.

And so that's why, as a Christian community, we bring meals to people who need food, who are in difficult times, because we know that life looks just a little bit better after a good night's sleep and a really good meal. So God meets Elijah's physical needs first, because it's only after our physical needs are met that he can really approach all the other needs that Elijah has. And you know, also, God doesn't just feed Elijah and bail. He's not like, peace out, Elijah. You've had food and a nap, so you're all good. Nor does he have an angel just kind of fly by and drop food and keep going. God remains with Elijah, and he remains with us.

He climbs into the pit, or in this case, into the cave with Elijah, and he talks to him, and he says, hey, what's going on? And then he listens. God is showing empathy. Scholar, author, and speaker, Brene Brown, has a short video that is a fantastic illustration of what God does for Elijah. So let's take a look at this video clip. It's about two minutes long.

So what is empathy, and why is it very different than sympathy? Empathy fuels connection. Sympathy drives disconnection. Empathy, it's very interesting. Teresa Wiseman is a nursing scholar who studied professions, very diverse professions, where empathy is relevant, and came up with four qualities of empathy. Perspective taking, the ability to take the perspective of another person, or recognize their perspective as their truth. Staying out of judgment, not easy when you enjoy it as much as most of us do. Recognizing emotion in other people, and then communicating that. Empathy is feeling with people. And to me, I always think of empathy as this kind of sacred space, when someone's kind of in a deep hole, and they shout out from the bottom, and they say, "I'm stuck, it's dark, I'm overwhelmed." And then we look and we say, "Hey," and climb down, "I know what it's like down here, and you're not alone." Sympathy is, "Ooh, it's bad, uh-huh. No, you want a sandwich? Empathy is a choice, and it's a vulnerable choice, because in order to connect with you, I have to connect with something in myself that knows that feeling. Rarely, if ever, does an empathic response begin with at least. I had a, yeah. And we do it all the time, because you know what? Someone just shared something with us that's incredibly painful, and we're trying to silver lining it. I don't think that's a verb, but I'm using it as one. We're trying to put the silver lining around it, so I had a miscarriage. Oh, at least you know you can get pregnant. I think my marriage is falling apart. At least you have a marriage. John's getting kicked out of school. At least Sarah is an A student. But one of the things we do sometimes in the face of very difficult conversations is we try to make things better. If I share something with you that's very difficult, I'd rather you say, I don't even know what to say right now, I'm just so glad you told me. Because the truth is, rarely can a response make something better. What makes something better is connection.

Did you catch that? What makes something better is connection. God connects with Elijah, and God connects with us. God doesn't tell Elijah he's wrong to feel what he's feeling. He doesn't shame him or tell him it's ridiculous. God doesn't say, hey Elijah, at least I showed up on Mount Carmel, wasn't that cool? He doesn't say, remember when I gave you power to raise that widow's son from the dead? Well, I showed up then, so I don't understand why you're so disappointed right now. God doesn't do any of that. He sits with Elijah, he listens to Elijah, and he is present and connects with Elijah.

On a run this past week, I was mulling over the story in my mind about Elijah and how I've seen it play out in my own life. And a conversation with my dad came up, and it was during a period of my life when a long-term relationship had ended, and I was really bummed out. And my dad who lived in San Jose at the time, called me up and said, hey, do you wanna go out to dinner? And he was gonna drive over the hill and take me out to dinner. And I remember saying to him, but dad, I may just be a crying mess. And I'll never forget his response. My dad said, well that's nothing new. I've been listening to you cry since the day you were born. Good point, dad. And isn't that the truth? Our cries are nothing new to our parents, but they aren't new to God either.

And as we grow up, we kind of have this idea that we need to keep our emotions to ourselves or make them look nice and not have the snotty crying face. And our crying episodes get further apart or more masked. But Isaiah 66:13 says, "As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you." God has been listening to us cry since the day we were born. So there's no need to hold back. He's seen it all before. He has heard and he wants to hear your frustration, your fear, and your disappointment. Elijah doesn't hold anything back. He tells God exactly what he's feeling and what he's thinking. And God's heard it all before. Frustration, despair, anguish, sadness, whatever you're feeling, he can handle it. Remember, small faith, big, big God.

And it's only after he listens to Elijah that God speaks. God can now refocus Elijah's perspective, and that's the third point, he refocuses our perspective, because Elijah's physical and emotional needs are met. And too often, as humans, we jump straight to number three. We think, "Well, I'm kind of uncomfortable with all of those feelings, and I don't really, and I kind of want to curb their disappointment, so I'm just gonna go straight to what they're thinking or what they think about God and fix that first." But even God doesn't jump immediately to the theological or the spiritual. He starts with rest, food, and empathy. And then he speaks truth to Elijah.

Job 33:14 says, "For God does speak, now one way, now another, though no one perceive it." Elijah was so focused on God speaking or working in a certain way that he almost missed what God was doing in that moment. God was not in the earthquake, he was not in the fire, he was not in that mighty wind. Instead, he was in a gentle whisper, reassuring Elijah, "You are not alone." How awesome is that? God whispers to Elijah. And when I really stop to think about it, it gives me the chills, because the all-powerful God of the universe who just sent down fire from heaven to demand the attention of hundreds of people is the same God that draws near to Elijah, whispers to him, and calls him by name.

A whisper. I mean, what is a whisper? A whisper is something that is meant for one person. You don't whisper to a group of people. A whisper implies proximity and intimacy and relationship. And so when God comes and whispers to Elijah, he's saying, "Hey, Elijah, I know you, I am near you, and I'm here to connect with you and comfort you and whisper to you." And not only does God say, "Hey, Elijah, you're not alone, I'm here," God says, "Hey, Elijah, you're not alone. There are 7,000 more people back in Israel who have remained faithful to me. You are not alone." Elijah's perspective had shrunk down so much that he could only see himself and his own situation and his own despair. And God helps Elijah zoom out so that he is able to see that God is doing more. There is a bigger picture. There is always more going on than we can see.

And the last thing that God does before Elijah leaves that pit is God reaffirms his purpose. And God does that for us as well. In verse 15 of chapter 19, God says, "Go back the same way you came." And God reminds Elijah, "Hey, I still have a job for you down here. You're my prophet and there's something for you to do." And he has him anoint two kings and one prophet. And Elijah gets very specific instructions. I don't tend to get very specific instructions from God. Sometimes I think it'd make it easier if God's like, "Do this and this and this," and I'd be like, "Check, check, check, it's all done, sweet." But God doesn't work like that with me. Maybe he does with you. We could talk about it later.

But God sends Elijah back. And when he does that, he is saying, "Hey, Elijah, not only do I have an eye on you, I know what's going on now, but I'm gonna continue to work into the future." Because Elijah's appointing his own successor. And so God's saying, "Hey, Elijah, even when you're gone, there will be somebody else here." He's saying, "Elijah, I got it. Like I got you and I've got the nation of Israel. So get back to work and do your part." And so Elijah, reassured and encouraged and comforted by God, gets up and goes back the way he came.

So when you find yourself extremely disappointed to the point of despair, and you turn to God with the few remaining drops of faith that you have, remember in desperate times, God renews our strength, remains with us, refocuses our perspective, and reaffirms our purpose. Although I've only preached a handful of times, it seems that whenever I'm preparing a message that the circumstances in my life kind of align themselves with whatever I am preaching about. And some people would say like, "Oh, that's just 'cause you're thinking about it a lot, so it's coming to mind." I kind of think that God is whispering to me along the way as I prepare this.

And one of those whispers came last week in the form of a newsletter. I have two college friends that are a married couple and they're missionaries in Kenya. And just last week, I got this newsletter, and in it, they share about an unfulfilled desire that they had to adopt two Kenyan boys. They have two boys of their own, and for three years, they wanted to bring these other two Kenyan boys into their home. But the Kenyan government changed their policy. And foreigners, even long-term residents in Kenya are not allowed to adopt Kenyan children. And so in their newsletter, they wrote, "So here we are, this unfulfilled desire is part of God's plan for us." That doesn't sound nice. But it's a truth we've been learning in 2 Corinthians. God can guide us right into the middle of disappointment and use that to shape us and give us empathy.

So I read that and I was like, "What verses are they referring to?" Well, they're referring to 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. And it says, "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us." Sometimes we have this idea that if God really cared, He'd make all of our troubles go away and life would be perfect. And other times we have this idea that God causes our troubles. But neither of those are true. God is not the source of our trouble, but the source of our comfort.

God was not the source of Elijah's trouble. King Ahab and Queen Jezebel were the source of Elijah's trouble. However, God comforted Elijah in the midst of despair and He used that experience to shape Elijah's life and character. So where are you on your journey this morning? Maybe you're on your way up a mountain and you're determined and you have these expectations for what it's gonna be like at the top. Or maybe something awesome just happened in your life and you were sitting at the top of a mountain enjoying the view and it is gorgeous and you were pumped up on God. Or maybe you've been sitting there for a little while and you're like, "Mm, might be time to go back down the hill into reality." Or maybe you're in a pit right now and it's a wilderness and you're pretty despondent and sad.

Wherever you are, we're all somewhere on our faith journey. So if your life is going well right now, that is awesome. Enjoy it and use this as a time to look around you. Who do you know that you can just simply sit with in their pit and be present? Who do you see around you that's troubled and needs to be comforted? Or maybe you're the one in the pit right now. If so, I wanna remind you that God is there. He will renew your strength. He will remain with you in your troubles to comfort you and eventually He will lift you up out of that pit. It will most likely look differently than you expect it to but He will lift you up out of that pit. Listen for His whisper.

Let's pray. Lord God, thank you for being the all-powerful God who is able to send down fire from heaven and awesome with your power. And yet also be that same God that draws close enough to whisper to us, to call us by name, to climb in down to the pit with us and connect with us and remain with us, to renew our strength and to refocus our perspective. God, I pray that you will open our ears and our hearts to listen so that we are aware of both your power and your whisper. Help us to be instruments of your comfort and peace to others. In your name, amen.