All alone...

The story of Elijah is very instructive for MKs, or anyone who is feeling alone, isolated and misunderstood.

1 Kings 19:10 Elijah replied, "I have zealously served the LORD God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I alone am left, and now they are trying to kill me, too."

Elijah feels alone. He’s dwelling on his isolation, and it’s making him almost arrogant. He’s getting into a sense of forced melancholy – sort of crisis, panic, super-drama.

It’s an easy state for MKs to find themselves in.

“I’m the only one who really understands the world, who really sees the problems in Australia, who really has a relationship with God that means something, who’s really suffered, who really.... " well, you fill in the blank.

It's so easy to find ourselves the hero of an exaggerated super-drama.

But God did not leave Elijah alone. He does not leave us alone either. We would have to go far to be completely isolated. There is always someone to stand with - others who love God.

Why did Elijah not make an effort to find others who were the same as him and seek refuge with them? I don’t know. Maybe fear of being rejected, killed or persecuted?

Maybe it was pride. In a dramatic way, it’s kind of cool to be the only one left! The single hero, solitary figure, misunderstood. There are heaps of movies are built on that romantic ideal.

But interestingly, the single, solitary, misunderstood hero is always seriously flawed - as a result of their isolation. It might be cool or interesting to be isolated for a while. But you will die of it in the end.

It was the grace of God that told Elijah there were 500 others who followed him. Not just two or three. But 500! There are plenty of people around who we can stand with too. We have to face our fears and our pride and go out and identify ourselves with them.