What are you doing here?

“What are you doing here?”

How would you answer this question? If you’re like me, you would talk about the tasks you need to do, or the journey that got you to this point. Seems like a legit response, right?

But, in 1 Kings 19:9-18, when God asks Elijah, when he was hiding in the cave, the answer Elijah gave did not resonate with the purpose behind God’s question.

Take time to read 1 Kings 19:9-18 now. I would also encourage you to read through chapters 17 and 18 for more context.

Elijah has been on a whirlwind “adventure” doing the work of a prophet. He was hunted, he was hated, he was haunted with the idea he was the only one left for God. So, he decides it is time to quit. He has had enough. He wanted it all over. So he runs away.

You have been a place like this. You have felt the burden when things go wrong, or they’re too heavy for you to handle, or you’re just burned out.

What do you do to help cope with burn out?

Here’s the thing, we don’t need to be entirely burned out to experience this condition. We can be burned out in different aspects of our lives. Maybe your job (or lack thereof) is not going well. Maybe finances are too tight. Maybe there’s strain in a relationship. Maybe you’ve tried to “keep up with the Jones’s” and you can’t do it anymore. You know this feeling. What do you do? You find a way to escape.

This is what Elijah did.

He escaped to a mountain cave to get away from everything. He needed time and space. The weight of his calling was too much for him. This is when God meets with Elijah and asked “What are you doing here?”

What does Elijah say? He says, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn 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.” In other words, “look, God, this is all I have done. I have worked so hard for you. I am the only one doing your work. Now everyone is out to get me.”

I believe we would all say something very similar when faced with this question. Why? Because we focus on what we’re doing. We focus on trying to make ourselves look good. We try to make others feel sorry for us because of all we have gone through. We focus on making us “good enough” for everyone, including God.

Personally, there have been two times where I have been right at the edge of burnout. Both times I felt numb to emotions, to care for the work, a complete lack of empathy and sympathy toward anyone and everyone. I just wanted to escape. I just wanted to be left alone. Both were very dark times.

These situations can keep us listening to the negativity and why everything is wrong around us. We end us feasting on more catastrophes than the beauty around us. We hear, and begin to believe, the lies we are not good enough, that everyone is out to get you, that you’ll never get out from this.

We keep looking for big signs from God that everything will be okay. We keep trying to find ways to reconnect with the God who redeemed us and spoke to us. We keep trying to look for big events to bring our attention back to our purpose.

Here’s the truth we need to hear. Yes, God works in the big events. The scripture mentions earthquake, wind, fire (all precursors to future events), but “the Lord was not in” those events. Instead, “a gentle whisper” revealed the presence of God.

This is a reminder to us God is found in the everyday, ordinariness of life. God is working in and through us and is speaking. The “gentle whisper,” the “still small voice” reminds us to intentionally focus on the voice and words of God. We may have to lean in to hear more, but this helps us develop our relationship with the One who created us.

What does God tell Elijah after Elijah “complains?” God, in my words, says, “suck it up, buttercup! I have this for you to do.”

Why would God do this? Because when we keep working, when we keep moving, we learn God is guiding us and our love for God and other people grows stronger. We find, God gives us what we need to handle the stuff life throws at us.

This is why Jesus, in Matthew 11, says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus is saying to not worry about the standards and worries/anxieties everyone else throws on you. Follow him and you will see you are following the One to experience real and the life.

It is not about us doing the good works, it is about the One who calls us out and works in and through us.

Take time to rest, recharge, listen for God’s voice. Receive the grace God offers and freely gives. Then allow the Holy Spirit to fill you with purpose and compassion once again.

Jesus also reminds us we do not live this life alone. He is always with us. It is he who is working in and though us, that’s why we can keep going. In fact, we are invited to cling to the promise Jesus gave at his ascension, in Matthew 28, “And surely I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.”

“What are you doing here?”

Then, live the kind of life Elijah’s name means…”Yahweh is my God.”