Elijah was the prophet of Israel who was called by God to prophesy against the wickedness in Israel during the reign of Ahab, the king whose wife, Jezebel
[Elijah] replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” 1 KINGS 19:14
Even the greatest of God’s servants can become overwhelmed by circumstances. Just ask Elijah, God’s prophet to Israel during the evil reign of King Ahab.
Elijah was called by God to prophesy against the wickedness of Ahab and the Israelites during one of the darkest times in its history. King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, had been promoting idolatry throughout the land and were trying to rid the land of the prophets of the Lord. Elijah faithfully and courageously confronted Ahab repeatedly about his sins and witnessed various miracles from God.
Perhaps the greatest confrontation between Elijah and Ahab took place on Mount Carmel. There Elijah called for hundreds of the prophets of Baal and Asherah to meet him and see which God or gods answered their prayers to consume a sacrifice. When Elijah’s God proved victorious over the other gods, Elijah instructed the people to kill all the
prophets of Baal and Asherah.
Having just witnessed this amazing miracle, however, Elijah fled for his life to Horeb (Mount Sinai) to escape the wrath of Jezebel. Along the way, and even while he was there speaking with God, Elijah expressed despair that he was the only one left who worshipped God God answered him by giving him some very direct commands of what to do next, and He assured him that he was not alone, for there were still seven thousand others in Israel who refused to bow down to idols. Elijah obeyed and anointed Elisha to succeed him in his ministry.
THE SPIRITUAL INSIGHT from the story of Elijah is that when you feel overwhelmed in your walk with God, take heart in knowing that God is always in control and He can raise up others to help even when it seems that no one else cares about God.