But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
– 1 Kings 19:4
What a verse. So just to get the context here, this is Elijah that 1 Kings 19 is talking about. And in 1 Kings 18, and the verses right before this, he prayed, and fire fell from heaven. He prayed and rain came from the sky. For the first time in years, he has just been on a spiritual mountaintop high. And then in the beginning of this chapter, 1 Kings 19, Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife, threatens him.
And Elijah goes running, running away from God, running away from what God has called him to do, and he runs a day’s journey into the wilderness, sits down under a tree, and asks that he might die saying, “It’s enough. Now, Lord, take away my life”.
That’s the lowest point you can get to God. “I don’t even want to go on, not just with the ministry you’ve called me to, I don’t want to go on with life”.
1 Kings 19:4 shows how God meets us in low places.
And when I read this verse about Elijah, I think there is not one of us that is above or beyond getting to this point in our lives where we wonder whether we can go on, how we can go on or if we can go on.
This is one of the things I love most about the Bible. How it is so real and identifies with realities that we all experience like any one of us. And some of you may be there today in some way to some degree. “God, how can I go on? God, can I go on?” Or maybe even God, “I don’t really want to go on”.
What I love about this passage is what happens right after this because God meets Elijah here. And nourishes him, feeds him, gives him rest, and helps him to go on. And I just want to encourage you when you hit low points in this world. Which inevitably will come for all of us. When you find yourself at any point where you wonder how or even if you can go on. I want to remind you that you are not alone in that moment, that God is right there with you.
1 Kings 19:4 affirms God’s presence when we feel abandoned.
That’s the picture in 1 Kings 19 as Elijah is running from God. God is running after Elijah, he is for Elijah, and God is for you. He’s for you. He’s for you. I just want to encourage you to believe that. Trust that. Especially when the adversary wants in these low moments to make you think you are alone, and you can’t go on, and it’s not worth going on.
Don’t believe the lies. The truth is God is for you. He’s with you and he will give you, he promises to give you what you need to go on and help you to take just the next step. Not to figure it all out. But to take the next step that leads to the next step. That’s what unfolds in 1 Kings 19 and the rest of Elijah’s story in a way that leads to so much good. But the beauty here in 1 Kings 19 is he trusts that God is with him and for him. And I want to encourage you in the same way today.
Oh God, I pray for particularly anyone who is at this point right now, and for everyone who will find themselves at this point in the future where they wonder how or if they can go on. And God, I just pray that in that moment, and for some right now, this moment, they would know even in listening to this right now, that you are with them, that you are saying that loud and clear to them.
This verse reminds us that God speaks gently to the broken.
Lord, you’re shouting that with your mercy and your grace and your love. “You’re not alone. You’re not alone. I’m with you. I’m for you, and I will help you take the next step. I will lead you. I will guide you. Trust in me”. God, I pray that they would believe you, that you would guard them, guard all of us from lies in low points in our lives, that we are alone and we can’t go on. God, help us to look to you, trust in you, and we pray that you would do what you did with Elijah in 1 Kings 19. Meet us and help us in every way we need.
To take the next step today and the next step tomorrow and to trust that your mercy is going to meet us, not just with new mercy every morning, but new mercy every moment. And oh God, we praise you for this reality that we know you are with us and for us.
Prayer for the Dongnu People in China
God, we think about people like the Dongnu in China. 300,000 of them who don’t know this, who don’t know about your love and the hope that’s found in Jesus alone.
God, we pray help us to spread the hope, and the love, and the mercy of Jesus to others in this fallen world. That when they get to low points, they might know you’re with them and for them, and we’ll lead them through God. We pray for the spread of the gospel to the Dongnu of China and thousands of other people, groups like them, and the people around us today.
God, help us help to be an encouragement to people who might be at low points around us today in ways that you met Elijah in 1 Kings 19. Help us to be instruments in your hands by which you might meet others in their time of need. God, we pray all of this according to your Word in 1 Kings 19:4 with hope. You are always with us and always for us, and you will lead us through. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
