He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

“Why are you hiding?” God asked Adam and Eve after they ate from the tree. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the world?” he asked Job after Job cried out for answers and relief. “Who do you say I am?” Jesus asked his disciples. “Who touched me?” he asked a crowd who pressed in on him from every side. Today’s passage is the prophet Elijah’s answer to another question from God: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” This question is repeated, and both times, Elijah gives the same answer.

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Before we take a closer look at this passage, I want us to consider why God asks questions at all. He is all knowing; he is not in need of any information. Pastor and author Glen Packiam writes, “When God asks a question, He’s not launching an interrogation; He’s staging an intervention.” The purpose of an intervention isn’t to accuse or condemn. An intervention is an invitation to healing and an assurance that you are not alone. Intervention happens when someone loves you right where you’re at but refuses to leave you there.

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Like many who find themselves confronted by intervention, Elijah doesn’t give a direct answer to God’s question. Instead, he launches into a defense of his fear and exhaustion. He basically says to God, “See all I’ve done for you? And look where it’s gotten me!” One rabbi, imagining what Elijah might have been feeling in this moment asks, “Who am I, when the person I have become is a burden I can no longer carry, and the self-image and personality habits I have worked so hard to cultivate in the past, are precisely what might lead me to my death now?”

Can you relate to Elijah’s burnout? It’s easy to feel affirmed in your calling when your work is prospering. But what about when your efforts feel fruitless? What about when you’re discouraged and afraid? Just one chapter earlier, we read of God sending fire from Heaven in response to Elijah’s prayer. Things had been going so well! God’s power was so evident! Where were those flashy signs and wonders now? Why wasn’t God intervening in some spectacular way to eliminate Elijah’s opposition?

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After God’s question and Elijah’s answer, a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire rage through the mountains where Elijah stands. But the Lord is not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire. Instead, after all these natural wonders, there is silence, or what some translations call “a still, small voice.” And God, we read, is in the silence. He questions Elijah once again, and Elijah gives his same reply. And how does God respond when Elijah vents his exhaustion and fear? God doesn’t release Elijah from his calling as a prophet. He doesn’t say, “Fine, you’ve done enough.” Instead, God equips him to carry on.

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God gives Elijah his next prophetic assignment and assures him he is not alone. He instructs Elijah to anoint Elisha to be an assistant, companion, and successor in ministry. He also tells Elijah there will be 7,000 in Israel who remain faithful to God. Elijah is not alone, his hope is renewed, and he continues boldly serving God in the face of fierce opposition. When we are disillusioned and overwhelmed, we might pray for God to remove our trials. He could. Or, he might respond to us like he did to Elijah and ask, “What are you doing here? Why are you trying to escape what I’ve called you to?”

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God is good and gracious. He doesn’t always remove hardships, but he sustains us through them. I know a pastor who likes to say, “If he leads you to it, he’ll lead you through it.” God has placed you in a specific place in this specific season for a specific reason. Next time you feel weary, instead of running, pray. Ask God to empower you to carry on. Ask him to provide a companion like Elisha. Ask him to show you through his church that you are not alone.

Father in Heaven, your ways are so high above my ways. I know right now I can only see a small part of the picture you’re painting. I’m not praying for answers right now. I’m not praying for an escape. I’m praying your Holy Spirit would empower me to endure. I’m praying you would surround me with believers who will encourage me to persevere. I’m praying the joy of the Lord would be my strength today as I take refuge in you, the Almighty, who holds me in your hand. In Jesus’ name, amen.