​

​

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

​

In a world that often demands so much of us, have you ever felt completely and utterly done?

Like you just can't take another step? I've been thinking a lot about the prophet Elijah lately. Not the confident Elijah who calls down fire from heaven, but the exhausted one who collapses under a broom tree and pours out his despair to God, telling God he's had enough. It's a raw moment. And a very human one.

Elijah had just come off a dramatic, mountaintop victory. He had stood alone against hundreds of prophets of Baal. He'd witnessed fire fall from heaven. The people had proclaimed, "The Lord indeed is God!" But the powerful queen Jezebel wasn't impressed. She threatened Elijah's life, and in an instant, the weight of the threat extinguished the triumph. Elijah ran. Not because he lacked faith, but because he was burned out, heartbroken, and afraid.

Sometimes we think that faith should shield us from moments like that - from despair, from weariness, from collapse. But Elijah reminds us that even the most faithful among us can hit a wall. And sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is admit it - and rest. And that's exactly what God provides.

In the wilderness, God doesn't scold Elijah or demand more from him. Instead, God sends an angel with food, water, and a gentle word: "Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you." And when Elijah still isn't ready to move, the angel comes again. God knows the journey is long. And God meets Elijah with tenderness, not toughness.

Eventually, Elijah makes his way to Mount Horeb, where he anticipates another dramatic encounter with God. But God isn't in the wind. Or the earthquake. Or the fire. Instead, God comes in what Scripture calls the "sound of sheer silence" - that still, small voice. A holy hush. A whisper of presence that fills the stillness.

We don't often get the God of thunder and spectacle. More often, we're given the God who meets us in silence. In a breath between grief and healing, in the hush between prayers, in a blessed quiet amidst the clamor, in the presence that doesn't solve everything but won't leave our side.

Elijah's story ends not with a grand triumph, but with a renewed calling. God gives him something to do, a follower to anoint, and a promise: "You are not alone."

If you find yourself in a wilderness season - confused, tired, overwhelmed - you are not forgotten and you are never alone. God meets us in those quiet places. Not to push us harder, but to whisper grace. To offer bread for the journey. And to encourage us on our way with hope in our hearts.

Blessings, Pastor Sue.

​

.