Day 3: The Cave
7 Then the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Get up, and eat, for the journey is too long for you [without adequate sustenance].” 8 So he got up and ate and drank, and with the strength of that food he travelled forty days and nights to Horeb (Sinai), the mountain of God.
9 There he came to a cave and spent the night in it; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
1 Kings 19: 7-9 (Amplified Bible)
After the food, drink, and the journey, during which time Elijah would have been left with his thoughts, God asked him what was on his mind. God specifically asks Elijah “what are you doing here?” Does he ask the same thing to us? When you’re suffering through a soul-sucking 9-5, wracking fingertips on desk, sitting uncomfortably in a church pew after an invite from a friend, doing an entrance exam for a subject you hate—God wants to know, “what are you doing here, and what do you want me to do about it?”
Elijah’s physical need had already been met, and now God wanted to meet him on a spiritual level. How can I heal you Elijah? What is making you sad and depressed? God had performed a miracle through Elijah only forty days’ prior, and he had observed him in the wilderness and travelled silently with him during the journey to Horeb, and yet he still asked Elijah directly. He wanted Elijah to speak to him. The counselling session was about to begin.
A conversation requires both a speaker and a listener; if there is no one to listen, the speaker may as well shout their words at a brick wall. One quote that circulates the internet every now and then is “people do not listen to understand; they listen to respond”. It is an art of self-discipline to not interject, assume, or translate the words of a person who is trying to get their point across. God prompted Elijah and he listened. Elijah did not hesitate to express himself, declaring “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 are trying to kill me, too.” (Verse 10, New Living Translation).
It must have been a relief for them both once those words were spoken. Elijah was scared, depressed, indignant and lonely. As expressed in the first devotional, The Juniper Tree, the life of a prophet was difficult. Now, he gets to speak to God like a human. Honesty. Alongside healthy communication, a true relationship needs honesty to thrive, otherwise both parties suffer. With this admission, God and Elijah’s relationship had developed further, one without pretence. Now, Elijah could talk to, and rely on, God, on a totally different level from before.