BeThankful for God’s Gentleness
Today let’s take time to be thankful for gentleness, specifically God’s gentleness. After Elijah defeated Jezebel’s Baal prophets and priests at Mt. Carmel, he fled her wrathful threats to murder him. His fear took over, and he experienced depression, and something similar to burnout.
We aren’t usually fleeing death threats, but our fears also have the potential to overwhelm us. Elijah’s story gives us a reassuring glimpse of God’s gentleness. He did not dismiss His prophet or scold him for his fears, but provided food, water, and rest, and listened to Elijah’s perspective of the situation.

Be Thankful for Gentleness

Be Thankful for God’s Gentleness

Elijah’s burnout didn’t vanish immediately. It took him 40 days and nights to walk from the desert broom tree to Mount Horeb, where he took refuge in a cave. God spoke to him there, and Elijah responded, outlining all the points of his discouragement.
When God told Elijah to leave the cave on Mt Horeb, and stand in His presence, although He sent a wind strong enough to break rocks (not by blowing them off the mountain to shatter on impact), an earthquake, and a fire, He wasn’t asking Elijah to stand up in the face of those fierce things.
Instead, he revealed His Presence in a gentle whisper. “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Whether or not Elijah thought God hadn’t listened, he responded with the same word-for-word litany of his woes. Elijah was “stuck.” You and I are human, like Elijah, so there’s a high probability that we get stuck in a mindset as thoroughly as he did.

Be Thankful for God’s Gentleness

Did God reject Elijah, or leave him without a purpose? No. Elijah had several tasks to accomplish: anoint a king for the nation of Aram, anoint Jehu as King of Israel, and anoint Elisha as the next of God’s prophets to follow. God laid out these tasks in order, and each of them was important to the history of God’s people.
After that, He told Elijah what His prophet’s heart was aching to hear. Elijah was not the last faithful believer in the nation. God had reserved seven thousand others in Israel.
We can be thankful that God is still gentle with those he has called.

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