What Doest Thou Here?

I Kings 19:13, “And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And , behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What does thou here, Elijah?”

This account comes right after Elijah’s great victory on Mount Carmel. He wins a great victory for God, and the very next chapter finds himself hiding in a cave from Queen Jezebel. God just proved himself to Elijah against 850 false prophets, and Elijah turns around and fears for his life because one woman wants him dead.

Elijah was discouraged from opposition that came after a great victory. Opposition will arise after a great victory for God because Satan can’t stand seeing God’s work accomplished. We see this many times in the Bible. David kills Goliath. Then, David is fleeing for his life from King Saul. Jesus fasts in the wilderness for 40 days, and Satan comes to tempt him.

Opposition from the devil is not fun, but it means you are doing something from the Lord. We ought to never get DISCOURAGED from Satan’s opposition, but we should be ENCOURAGED knowing that we are doing God’s work. The devil uses discouragement to try to get Christians to quit. However, as Christians, we can find encouragement in the Lord as David did in I Samuel 30:6 which says, “…but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” We need to find our encouragement in the Lord and his work so we can continue on when the opposition of Satan comes.