So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.” Elijah was afraid and fled for his life…
1 Kings 19:2-3 (ESV)
She was a powerful foe; one who could send a mighty man of God like Elijah fleeing for his life. Never mind that he’d just won a showdown with the 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, called down fire from heaven, and triggered – through prayer – a torrential downpour after a three-year drought.
Yet Elijah found himself on the wrong side of fear. The irony here is that the very thing he was fleeing from (Jezebel’s death threat) was the one thing he asked of God (take my life).
Fear is a powerful enemy, isn’t it? It distorts our reality, sometimes to the point that the shape of our fear – perceived threat – looms larger than the object of our fear – actual threat. So we run, hide, and wish we could end it all.
Fear is, in reality, anxiety on steroids. When we feed our angst, our perspective becomes skewed. Avoiding the source of stress simply amplifies fear and opens the door to destructive self-talk. That’s why it’s so crucial to bring our fears, our anxiety, our self-talk to God so He can adjust our perspective. He did it for Elijah. To his misbelief, “I’m the only one left who still follows you and now they want to get rid of me too,” God responds with truth, “Seven thousand Israelites have refused to worship Baal, and they will live.”
Wow! From one to seven thousand! What Elijah believed came nowhere close to the truth. And that’s exactly where the enemy wants us – he whispers lies, distorts the truth, magnifies our fears, and winds his evil schemes around our brains in order to take us out of the action. He especially wants to sideline those who are zealously serving the LORD (1 Kings 19:10).
In these situations, prayer is the weapon of choice. Spill your heart out to God. Share with Him all of your thoughts, your worries, your discouragement, and yes, even your disappointment. Ask Him to replace your misbeliefs with His truth. Write out and memorize Ephesians 6:10-18. Then ask Him to replace your view of the problem with His view of the problem. Because perspective is everything.
The next time you face a mighty foe, take a step back. Measure the size of your problem against the size of your God. You just might discover your foe is not as big as you thought.