“So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. There he came to a cave, where he spent the night. But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (I Kings 19:8-9 NLT)
As you can tell from our opening verses, which is about Elijah, shortly after his victory of the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel, even God’s best experience the worst. Those who have been on fire for the Lord in a powerful way are not exempt from coming down from a mountain high to a valley low. Making it more apples to apples, or oranges to oranges, none of us, including you and me, may find ourselves in a cave, in a dark place or a dark time, and nigh time keeps coming while we are looking for the joy that comes in the morning.
There is a simple remedy, a relief tactic that I want to share with you this morning if you ever find yourself in some type of figurative cave. It’s simple: Come out of the cave and go! Don’t stay where you are! Get out and go to renew your work, doing what the Lord has asked you to do. Get out and go get busy, for there is still more work to do. Get out and go, find some folks who love the Lord like you do. Like Elijah, you are not by yourself!
Having a moment of feeling burnout? Well, get out of your cave and go. Just as easy as you went into your cave, you can come out of it and you can go! Go, and praise God for another day! Go, and realize that He is not done with you yet. You are here for a purpose, His purpose! Go, and fight the darkness by letting your own light shine.
The simple remedy again for those times when you find yourself in a cave and you feel like giving up: “Come out of the cave and go!” The Lord needs you! Now go! Give God the glory! Be blessed!
“Then the Lord told him, “Go back the same way you came…” (I Kings 19:15a NLT)
Mark L. King