Ordinary People & Their Extraordinary God

1/29/26 Bible Thought (1 Kings 19)

Photo by Solving Healthcare on Unsplash

Main Idea: God has chosen to do His work through ordinary, imperfect people.

A Look at the Text

In today’s chapter, we see how triumph quickly led to despair in Elijah’s life. Up to this point, it was boldness and miracles. He confronted an idolatrous king, saw a drought begin and end with his word, and experienced fire sent from heaven.

Elijah was a pretty amazing figure, but he was also incredibly human.

When Ahab’s wife, the wicked queen Jezebel, determined that she would kill Elijah in return for what he’d done, the Scripture says concerning Elijah:

“Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life” (1 Kings 19:3a).

Elijah’s life went from prophetic showdown to terror. From bold proclamation to fearful flight. All because of Jezebel’s threat.

To make matters worse, the one who was praying for fire from heaven and a drought-ending rain in the last chapter is now praying for God to take his life! (see 1 Kings 19:4b).

The great irony here is that Elijah was one of two people who never died. A prayer for death is eventually answered for everyone who has ever sought it—that is, except Elijah.

Elijah was depressed. He was discouraged. He was lonely. He thought he was the sole remnant of those who followed Yahweh in Israel. Then Elijah took a nap, God sent him an angelic DoorDash, and after further encounters with God at Mt. Horeb, he anointed Elisha as the next prophet in Israel.

Bringing it Home

Personally, I find 1 Kings 19 to be one of the most helpful chapters. Seeing Elijah’s utter humanity helps to put much of my life in perspective. Elijah was depressed. The medicine? Sleep and food. Elijah was a natural, normal guy. He was like us. He was finite.

I find in my own life that if I get behind on sleep for a few days, I get really depressed. I don’t need a significant change in my life. I don’t need to start medication. I don’t need anything major, really. I just need to sleep. My life is really pretty good, and my God is even better.

God has simply made us finite. He made us, not as machines that can be worked indefinitely, but as living beings that need food and rest. We must recognize our limitations and our natural needs. Most importantly of all—God made us to need Him.

We weren’t made to do life alone and in our strength.

Yet through God’s strength, there is nothing impossible. Consider what the apostle James has to say concerning Elijah:

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. ¹⁸ Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit (Jas. 5:17-18).

In essence, he points out that Elijah was extraordinary, not because of who he was, but because he served an extraordinary God.

While we don’t want to be dismissive of the unique contributions that Bible characters have made to the story that God has been telling for millennia, we likewise don’t want to so over-inflate their example that we lose sight of the fact that God has and forever always will work through relatively ordinary people. People like you and me.

I find this to be rather encouraging, because I qualify. I am an altogether natural, normal person, with an exceedingly unnatural—even more, supernatural God.

My success in the mission of God is not dependent upon what I bring to the table other than a willing heart. He can work through any vessel that is willing to surrender.

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Challenge:

Do I ever put biblical heroes on a pedestal, forgetting that God works through ordinary people?