The Bible tells you to expect hardships. Christians who know their Bible and examine our culture know that following Jesus is not meant to be easy, and the world certainly affirms that truth. There is little expectation for this life to be free of trouble, uncomplicated, or painless- but what we did not expect was to walk through all of that alone.

We, as a people, feel desperately alone. Especially those of us who live in places where people who follow Jesus are few to be found. Last week, I was taking a walk in the park right in the middle of a city, walking through swarms of people. People from all walks of life, from all kinds of ethnic backgrounds- and I was overwhelmed by it all. That was the second time I had that feeling.

The first time was last summer, when I was living in a different city in which the inhabitants were 80% unreached with the Gospel. I stood at a high point, looking over the city, and asked the same question that I asked last week: “Lord, is it only me here that knows you?” And, I know I’m not the only one who’s asked this. It’s the same for you who looks over your college campus, or your high school halls, or your family, or your city. The core of the question really is this: “Lord, have you forgotten us?”

Elijah asked the same question. It was a time of pagan worship under the reign of Ahab and Jezebel, and he felt like the only one left. He says this in 1 Kings 19:10, “I have been very jealous for the Lord of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

Elijah tells the Lord that he is jealous for the glory of God among these people who don’t know Him. They have broken their covenant of faithfulness, they have worshipped idols, they have killed the other prophets, and now they want to kill Elijah. His despair is clear in his plea. He sees no hope, he’s alone, and he doesn’t know what God is doing. Does He not care that His people have forgotten Him?

To answer Elijah, the Lord asks him to go outside to the side of the mountain. The Lord Himself was going to meet Elijah.

A great wind tore through the mountain, so strong that it broke rocks into pieces, then an earthquake shook him where he stood, then fire swept through in front of him- but after all three of these massive demonstrations of power, the Bible says that “the Lord was not in the wind… the Lord was not in the earthquake…the Lord was not in the fire.” But don’t these show the power of God? He answered Elijah’s questions with rock-breaking wind, mountain shaking earthquake, and consuming fire-why didn’t God show up in those?

The Bible says that after these came the sound of a “low whisper.” And when Elijah heard it, he hid his face and walked out to meet God. The Lord was not in the wind, or the earthquake, or the fire- He was in the whisper. Why answer this way? Here, God was demonstrating to Elijah a truth about Himself.

Elijah was wondering why God didn’t use the same rock-breaking power to show Himself mighty to all of these people who rejected Him. After all, if everyone knew that Elijah believed in the true God, then he wouldn’t be alone. And Elijah knew the power of God- it had been demonstrated in the chapter before. But God didn’t show up that way. Not in magnificent demonstrations of power, but in a low whisper.

Isn’t that true of our Savior? He came, not as a king with a sword, but as a servant who washed feet. He had great power, yes, but Jesus was not interested in showing off His power to those who didn’t believe Him. Peter wanted Him to- when they came to get Him, to take Him to the cross, Peter grabbed a sword and started fighting. But Jesus emptied Himself, and became obedient to death on a cross. The disciples felt alone. Elijah felt alone. You and I, we feel alone. Why doesn’t God just send an earthquake to show all of our friends that we aren’t crazy to believe Him? Why didn’t God show Himself in the fire?

It’s because He has never been a God who seeks to win hearts this way. He’s much more powerful than that, friends. We understand power through great demonstrations because our view is so limited by our finiteness. The Lord has the earth as His footstool. He is sovereign over much more than the natural world- He is sovereign over every human heart.

God answers Elijah’s disbelief with this: “ Yet I have kept for myself seven thousand people in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” He is able to raise up believers from the remnant of a people who want nothing to do with Him. That’s what it looks like to wield power and grace in the same hand. He is gentle, and patient, and able to see beyond your current loneliness to accomplish His greater, sweeter purposes. He is sovereign over the human heart, too.

Do you feel like you’re the only one? Do you feel like He has forgotten you? When Elijah felt that way, God reminded him that the Lord has much more in store for His people than we could ever imagine. He wanted to show Elijah that His ways were higher than Elijah’s ways. His thoughts are higher than ours, too. He is able to turn the hearts of men towards Him whenever He would like, and when we would despair, His is a gentle reminder that He is much bigger than we imagine, and His hand is not shortened to save. Maybe it’s time that our prayers were different- not that we forsake asking Him to move in a mighty way, because we should pray boldly, but also pray that He would change our eyes to see Him in the whisper instead of waiting on the earthquake. And who knows? Maybe He is raising a new 7000 from our midst, too.

Hi! My name is Samantha Arp and I am a sophomore in college. I am studying writing and theology and serve in the women’s and college ministry at my college. I have a passion for the Word of God and teaching our generation how to find joy in it! I love LO sis and I’m honored to share this today 🙂