A young missionary in a Peruvian village carved a gravestone for his infant son with his own hands and stood over the grave every noon until he fell ill himself. That story opens a reflection on the prophet Elijah, who right after the greatest victory of his life fled into the desert and asked God to take his life (1 Kings 19). The sermon shows how easily we lose perspective, and how God treats someone who has had enough: he comes not with reproach but with food, and then meets him in a healing silence. Listen if your work, your service or your prayers feel completely pointless right now.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- After his victory on Mount Carmel, Elijah flees from Jezebel beyond Beersheba, leaves his servant behind and asks to die. What does this flight reveal about his condition and what he was really running from?
- God does not appear to Elijah in the wind, the earthquake or the fire, but in a gentle whisper, a soothing sound of silence. What was this encounter on Mount Horeb meant to remind the prophet of?
- The angel comes to Elijah not with criticism or advice, but with water and bread. What does God's care for rest and food teach you about the times when you have had enough?
- The speaker compared losing perspective to holding a coin right up to your eye. What most often blocks your view of God and His work in your life?
- Elijah says he alone is left, but God replies that He has kept 7,000 faithful and calls Elisha as his successor. How does knowing that God sees the rest of the picture change how you view service that shows no visible results?
- In a hard season the speaker went back to his own sermons on suffering to remind himself what he believes. How can you find silence this week to listen to God's word and recall what God has already done?
