WHEN ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
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!" (1 Kings 19:4)
Elijah has to be ranked among the greatest men or women of
prayer in the entire Bible. He was mighty enough in prayer to make
the heavens hold back rain for three and a half years, and then he
had enough power in prayer to bring the rain back at the appointed
time. Elijah had enjoyed an amazing period of spiritual success with
the defeat of the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and the sincere
(if brief) restoration of a belief in the true God among the people of
Israel.
Yet at the end of that high season came a crashing depression.
Here we find Elijah alone in the wilderness ("he himself went a
day's journey into the wilderness"). This was beyond the distant
city of Beersheba, where Elijah secluded himself as much as
possible.
In that solitary place he began to pray - but not a mighty prayer of
faith to revive the work of God among His spiritually dead people.
This prayer was personal: "and he prayed that he might die." This
mighty man of prayer - mighty enough to make the rain and the
dew stop for three and a half years, and then mighty enough to
make it start again at his prayer - now he prayed that he might
die.
Thankfully, this was a prayer not answered for Elijah. In fact, Elijah
was one of the few men in the Bible to never die! We can imagine
that many years later as he was caught up into heaven, he smiled
and thought of this prayer - and the blessed "no" that answered his
prayer. To receive a no answer from God can be better than
receiving a yes answer - it certainly was true in Elijah's case.
Look at what Elijah said in his prayer: "It is enough." We sense
that Elijah meant, "I can't do this anymore, LORD." The work was
stressful, exhausting, and seemed to accomplish nothing. The great
work on Mount Carmel did not result in a lasting national revival or
return to the LORD. It was as if Elijah said, "Enough is enough, God.
You will have to find someone else to do the work from here on
because I am a confirmed failure."
Yet we can see now that it wasn't enough for Elijah. He had
experienced many blessings, but God had many more for him. God
had a great revelation of Himself to give to Elijah, something more
than Elijah's "enough." Though he was presently worn out and
discouraged by all the battles he had to fight, it seems that the later
period of Elijah's life was marked by peace and calm communion
with God. Spurgeon said of Elijah at this point, "He seems never to
have had another fainting fit, but to the end his sun shone brightly
without a cloud. So it was not enough; how could he know that it
was? It is God alone who knows when we have done enough, and
enjoyed enough; but we do not know."
Look at the rest of Elijah's unanswered prayer: "Now, LORD, take
my life, for I am no better than my fathers!" When Elijah
examined the apparent failure of his work, he instinctively set the
blame on his own unworthiness. It was because he was a sinner as
the rest of his ancestors that the work seemed to fail.
It is easy to wonder how such a great man of God could have such
gloomy thoughts. Yet we see that all of his spiritual
accomplishments did not prevent Elijah from feeling unreasonably
depressed and discouraged. Perhaps Elijah had especially hoped
that the events on Mount Carmel would turn around Ahab and
Jezebel and the leadership of Israel in general. If so, Elijah forgot
that people reject God despite the evidence, not because of the
evidence.
Have you recently said, "That's enough!"? The lesson from Elijah is
clear: God knows when enough is enough. Comfort yourself in that
knowledge and thank Him for the prayers He said "No" to.
By David Guzik
For Bible Study resources by David Guzik, go to:
www.enduringword.com/library_commentaries.html
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David Guzik is the director of Calvary Chapel Bible College Germany, near Siegen, Germany. David took this position in January of 2003, after serving for 14 years as the founding and Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel of Simi Valley. He has been in pastoral ministry since 1982. Learn more about David and his ministry at his website “The Enduring Word,” located at: http://www.enduringword.com where you will find excellent bible study commentaries and much more.