The Elijah Syndrome

I have once again fallen victim to what I call the “Elijah syndrome”. No, I have not been full of boldness and stood valiantly for God against great odds and received wonderful confirmation of His power and presence. I am referring to what happened not long after that event on Mt. Carmel when Elijah was exhausted and succumbed to the temptation to be afraid and subsequently ran for his life like a scared little rabbit. This must have greatly amused the woman who threatened him and brought her a great deal of satisfaction. (reference 1 Kings 17,18)

The syndrome I have observed over the years is this: very frequently after a spiritual high moment there almost inevitably follows a particularly powerful temptation aimed at our most vulnerable weakness. It is crass and vicious on the part of the tempter, but then that is what he is like. He is cruel, completely heartless and he is ruthless in pursuit of shaming us, defaming us and destroying us. His real goal is to defame God's reputation and he stops short of absolutely nothing to accomplish this. He particularly enjoys causing a public failure of consistency, a poisoning of the spirit that reflects his own evil and selfish attributes to be revealed in the life of a saint-in-process. Then he quickly broadcasts this failure, greatly exaggerating its extent and implications, and masking over the truth of the person's real, inward identity. Once again Satan vindicates himself in his charges and lies against God.

This sequence creates a great deal of tension, remorse and confusion within the person thus attacked and tripped up. Many times he wonders what his true, God-implanted identity really is as he is led to question and understand his own inconsistency. Sometimes he falls into deep discouragement and is blinded to the causes of his catastrophic failure and shame. Shame becomes the primary feeling that swallows him up and may even drive him into hopeless despair.

This is where the story of Elijah is such a powerful encouragement to remember in the midst of the confusion and shame. While Elijah ran for his life making God look weak and helpless to protect him, God still had His hand around Elijah waiting for him to slow down enough to come back to his senses and receive the gifts of life from His hand. It really confirms the fact in salvation that all righteousness comes from God and that we have absolutely none of our own. We can only receive it, cooperate with Him in the transaction and then live out the righteousness that God implants in us.

However, there seems to be certain conditions that tend to create the opportunity for this syndrome to be triggered. First of all, it happens to a person who is learning to depend more and more totally on God and not on themselves. This enrages the enemy because it exposes the falseness of the lies with which he has blanketed the world and threatens to greatly weaken his despotic control over souls.

Secondly it often comes on the heels of a spiritual event that creates an emotional high in the life of the believer. Sometimes people are led to conclude from this that we should avoid spiritual highs so we won't be so liable for a crash. But if that logic were true then we might not today have one of the most telling stories in the Bible contrasting the character of God against the evil of false gods. There is nothing at all wrong with experiencing spiritual highs, though we are not expected to live there all the time. These events are given to remind us of the ideal that is in God's presence. But we must also return to the everyday world and live out the vision and remember inside the inspiration that received on the mountain. (see My Utmost for His Highest 10/1) The disciples also experienced this when they came down off the Mount of Transfiguration.

Lastly this vicious attack usually arrives in a period of physical weakness and/or emotional exhaustion. Elijah had just run an incredible distance leading Ahab's chariot (his wicked opponent) through driving, blinding rain so he could get back home safely without receiving the slightest kindness in return. There was certainly nothing wrong with his actions and choices. Indeed, he was exhibiting an amazing affinity to God's own heart of compassion and love by blessing his enemy while spending himself to exhaustion. But this situation set him up for the attack that followed because the enemy loves to exploit our weaknesses, both spiritually and physically. Elijah was drenched, unbelievably tired and emotionally drained. He was the perfect target for a savage assault by by the ultimate aggressor. And Satan chose to launch his attack through the wicked wife of the very man Elijah had just poured himself out to bless.

This is the story of the Elijah syndrome. It is given not only as a warning to alert us that our archenemy will use every such opportunity to launch a sneak attack on our souls; but is also given particularly to remind us that God has not forsaken or forgotten us when we have played the fool and been unwittingly participant in smearing His reputation once again through our dysfunction. What amazes me the most in this story is the consideration that God never once reprimanded Elijah for his failure to trust Him in the face of this simple threat. Many of us have been tempted to castigate Elijah and wonder how he could be so bold in front of overwhelming opposition just hours before and yet fall into paralyzing fear from the threat from a single woman. Where had his confident faith gone? Why not exercise holy boldness and confiding trust, particularly after such tremendous affirmation and public success at the hand of God?

But Elijah was human and subject to the same blind spots and weaknesses that we all have to deal with. (James 5:16,17) And God demonstrated His character of kindness, grace and sympathy and simply sent an angel to supply what Elijah needed most – food, water and lots of rest.

But I'm sure Elijah was thinking very much about what had just happened and God did not leave him to figure it all out on his own. When God took him through the series of powerful events on Mt. Horeb (Sinai), they were specifically calculated to answer the troubling questions that must have been tormenting Elijah on the inside. They reminded him of the primary way that God communicates to us as well as contrasting that with the ways we often expect or desire God to communicate with us. It was a powerful reminder to Elijah as well as to all of us that even the fire that fell on Mt. Carmel just prior to this was not nearly so important as remembering to listen to the inaudible voice of God within our soul. God is there all the time; but when we allow distractions, whether positive or negative, to drown out His voice, then we are in danger of making decisions or reacting to temptations or threats in a way that is inconsistent with the Spirit of God within us. But this does not mean that God has forsaken us, no matter ugly things now appear or how our feelings and emotions clamor and accuse. We have the assurance from this example in the life of Elijah that we can trust in a God who supersedes our emotions and perceptions and who is faithful to us even when we have been unfaithful and shamed before all the world.