Sermon: God Understands

Written by Chantal Klingbeil

Introduction

Today, we focus particularly on prayer. The Bible is full of examples of great and powerful
prayers and wonderful answers to prayer. This morning, let’s take a brief look at one of the
most powerful prayers in history. Let’s turn to 1 Kings 18. We begin in verse 30.

30Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to
him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down.
31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of

Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.”
32 Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD; and he made a trench

around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed.

33 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said,

“Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.”
34 Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said,

“Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time.

35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.
36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the

prophet came near and said, “LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known
this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these
things at Your word.
37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God,

and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the

stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The LORD,

He is God! The LORD, He is God!” (NKJV)

It wasn’t a very long prayer or particularly elegant, but God heard Elijah’s prayer and sent fire
down from heaven—a very real and very visible answer to prayer.

And that was not the end of powerful answers to prayer. In verse 42 Elijah again goes to the top
of Mount Carmel. This time he bows low and prays silently for rain, because Israel has suffered
a three-year drought. This time, however, the answer to his prayer doesn’t come immediately.
Elijah must wait and persist.

The prophet prays seven times before he sees the first sign that his prayer for rain has been
heard. It may only be a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising out of the sea, but it is
enough—Elijah knows that his prayer had been answered. Within minutes, the skies seem to
open and there is a heavy downpour of rain.

Elijah knew about prayer. He knew how to ask, he knew how to persist, and he knew how to
wait.

Perhaps you too have had moments in life when you can identify with Elijah. Times when you
prayed for something or someone and you saw God answer in a mighty and wonderful way.

Then again, perhaps you struggle to remember some big answer to a prayer. Perhaps the
person you were praying for didn’t get better. Perhaps you didn’t get the job. Perhaps you are
still childless.

Perhaps we cannot all identify with Elijah, the great prayer warrior, but I think that—at some
time in our lives—we can all identify ourselves with Elijah after the great day on Mount Carmel.

Onset of depression

Elijah was completely drained, emotionally and physically, after the Mount Carmel experience.
He had already fallen into a deep sleep when the messenger from Queen Jezebel finds him. This
rude awakening—with a death threat from the queen—serves as the trigger for Elijah. The
trigger for a sudden descent into a deep, dark depression.

Sometimes a depression strikes quickly after a particularly draining emotional or physical

event. At other times, we don’t even notice it happening but after weeks, months, or even
years of a seemingly dry spiritual time, depression can slowly and quietly take hold of us. We
recognize it only when it tightens its grip.

Let’s see how Elijah, this great man of God, reacts. In 1 Kings 19, we learn that Elijah begins to
run. The first step, when depression begins to creep in, is always the inevitable running.
Sometimes we run to the refrigerator and try to eat ourselves happy again. Sometimes we try
to sleep our emotional exhaustion away. Sometimes we look for a new relationship, job, or
location in our quest to run away. And sometimes we bury ourselves in more work, more
deadlines, and appointments as we try harder to run away from the nameless something that is
draining away our joy and hope.

So Elijah runs. He runs and he runs—long and hard! He runs 90 miles (150 kilometers), all the
way to Beersheba and then a day’s journey beyond that into the desert. But finally, as with us
sometimes, Elijah gets to the place where he just can’t run anymore. He finds his breaking point
under a broom tree. Now guilt comes crushing in on him. He realizes that his lack of trust in
God has hijacked what could have been a great opportunity for reformation in Israel. He
realizes that he has disappointed those who needed him. And now he is powerless to do
anything about it.
It’s all too much for Elijah. He says, “I have had enough,” and then the great prayer warrior
prays again. This time it is a very different prayer. Let’s read it in 1 Kings 19:4, “But he himself
went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he
prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better
than my fathers!”

Elijah, our great prayer warrior, prays to die! He is so remorseful about his failure that he is
ready to give up.

Can you identify?

Can you identify with Elijah’s prayer of desperation? Have you ever felt like giving up spiritually
or even physically? Have you ever felt that you have messed up so badly that there is no point
in trying again? Have you ever felt so tired—so trapped and out of options—that you didn’t
want to go on?

If so, you are in good company. Many spiritual giants—and even great prayer warriors—have
felt this way too. Yet there is good news! God knew just how to deal with Elijah and God knows
just how to deal with you.

God’s understands

Despite how the prophet feels, God has not rejected him. God does not condemn. He sends
Elijah an angel messenger to show God’s empathy. In verse 7, the messenger gently states that
“the journey is too much for you.” God doesn’t condemn His prophet, and He doesn’t condemn
us. He understands so much better than we do what we are up against. He understands what
has brought us to this point.

When we are at our lowest God is really the closest to us.

Listen to this wonderful quote. “We may have no remarkable evidence at the time that the face
of our Redeemer is bending over us in compassion and love, but this is even so. We may not
feel His visible touch, but His hand is upon us in love and pitying tenderness” (Ellen G. White,
Steps to Christ, pp. 96, 97).

God also does more than just empathize. He provides practical short-term help. In Elijah’s case
this is the heavenly messenger preparing “a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of
water” (v. 6). God will also provide help for me and you. The help could be a friend, a counselor,
or a family member—someone whose words and actions show you that God cares about you.

God also provides rest. He knows that all the running has made Elijah tired. God also knows
that more than being physically tired, his prophet is emotionally tired and carrying a
tremendous load of guilt. God wipes the slate clean and provides rest for Elijah—he can finally
really sleep and be refreshed.
When we truly accept that God has forgiven us and that we don’t have to drag around a load of
guilt—for God has lifted it, we can begin to find rest.

Healing takes time

Even after angel food, Elijah isn’t instantly back to normal. God remembers that we are “dust”
(Psalm 103:14, NKJV). He does not rush healing. God gives Elijah time to recover. Recovery
takes time. We need those quiet moments alone with God. We need time with His Word. We
need to take the time to speak to God even if, in doing so, we don’t feel immediate changes for
the better.

God understands that life in this sinful world can and will cause depression. He understands our
impulse to run from its pain. Yet He wants to redirect our running. Instead of our running to
self-destructive coping mechanisms, God wants us to run to Him. And there, in His presence, He
wants to teach us to listen for His “gentle whisper” (v. 12, NIV).

The rest of the story

But let’s go back to Elijah. He is still under his broom tree. From verse 6, we learn that Elijah
eats angel food and then goes back to sleep. How long he sleeps we don’t know. Then the angel
awakens him and serves him yet another meal. This time something special happens. “And the
angel of the LORD came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat,
because the journey is too great for you.” 8 So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the
strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God” (vv. 7, 8,
NKJV).

Elijah had no energy to lift himself up and make the journey to meet God. When the moment
was right, however, it was God that provided the energy for this crucial meeting.

When Elijah arrived at his divine appointment place he still had to patiently wait and relearn
what prayer is all about. God isn’t always in the big events. He doesn’t always provide
spectacular answers to our prayers. There won’t always be a bright flash and fire raining down
from heaven. As Elijah waited, “a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the
rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an
earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a
fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice” (vv. 11, 12, NKJV).

And this is what all prayer warriors must learn to tune their ears to hear—that still small voice.

As Elijah lay under his broom tree and wished to die, he truly believed that his best days were
over. God saw things differently. He knew that better days lay ahead for Elijah. There were still
kings to be anointed and a prophetic successor to be chosen. God already knew about Elisha,
the successor, who would become as close to Elijah as a son. God knew that, in faith, Elijah
would again call down fire from heaven. For Elijah there would be no desperate death under a
broom tree but rather a fiery chariot ride to heaven—and without experiencing death. Yet let
us remember this.

“It is at the time of greatest weakness that Satan assails the soul with the fiercest
temptations. It was thus that he hoped to prevail over the Son of God; for by this policy
he has gained many victories over man. . . . So with Elijah. . . .

“And so it is today. When we are encompassed with doubt, perplexed by circumstances,

or afflicted by poverty or distress, Satan seeks to shake our confidence in Jehovah. It is
then that he arrays before us our mistakes and tempts us to distrust God, to question
His love. He hopes to discourage the soul and break our hold on God. . . .

“Despondency may shake the most heroic faith and weaken the most steadfast will. But
God understands, and He still pities and loves. He reads the motives and the purposes of
the heart. To wait patiently, to trust when everything looks dark, is the lesson [we] need
to learn. Heaven will not fail [us] in [our] day of adversity. Nothing is apparently more
helpless, yet really more invincible, than the soul that feels its nothingness and relies
wholly on God” (Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, pp. 174, 175).

Where are you today? If you are Elijah on Mount Carmel calling fire down from heaven, praise
the Lord! But please remember there won’t always be mountain top experiences. Don’t lose
the sound of God’s still small voice. If you are Elijah running away or doing things that you know
don’t solve the underlying problems, or Elijah lying under a broom tree feeling like a failure,
there is hope.

God sees things differently. God understands. God wants to free you from guilt. He wants to
work through others to provide practical help for you. And He will not fail to give you the
energy to meet with Him again. Your best days are yet to come as you listen to, and follow, that
still Small Voice. God understands and He is ready to bless you today. Are you ready?

—END—
GOD UNDERSTANDS

By Chantal J. Klingbeil

Prepared by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Department of Women’s Ministries

October 18, 2017

Dear Sisters:

Joyful greetings to each of you my sisters. Have you ever experienced a time when you faced a
problem so difficult it seemed as if God did not know your distress? You prayed and prayed and
yet there was no response. You may have even questioned if God cared about you or even saw
your difficulties. At times like this Satan whispers doubt into our ears that can lodge in our heart
and mind.

Chantal Klingbeil, our author for this year’s International Women’s Day of Prayer resource,
quotes the following from the book, Steps to Christ, “We may have no remarkable evidence at
the time that the face of our Redeemer is bending over us in compassion and love, but this is
even so. We may not feel His visible touch, but His hand is upon us in love and pitying
tenderness” (Ellen G. White, pp. 96, 97).

Over and over in the Bible we read God’s promises to be with us—Deuteronomy 31:6, 8; 1
Kings 8:57; Psalm 37:28; Isaiah 42:16; Hebrews 13:5, 6, and many others. Yet at times of great
despair, we find our hearts doubting these very promises. Why does this happen? How can we
overcome these times of doubt and distress? Our sermon for this special day of prayer will
answer those questions and remind us that God does care and He is always, always with us.

Our prayer, in General Conference Women’s Ministries, is that this special day will be a time to
remember that we serve a God who loves us intensely, feels our pain and hurt deeply, and wants
to abide with us eternally.

Blessings and joy to you,

Heather-Dawn Small
Director