Elijah's Despair and God's Still Small Voice

After the great victory on Mount Carmel, Queen Jezebel vowed to kill Elijah. The same prophet who had bravely faced hundreds of false prophets now fled in terror into the wilderness, sat under a broom tree, and asked God to take his life. God sent an angel to give him food and water, and on the strength of that food he walked forty days and forty nights to Mount Horeb. In a cave God asked him why he was there, and Elijah poured out his loneliness and despair. God told him to stand on the mountain — a great wind tore the rocks, an earthquake shook the ground, and a fire blazed past, but God was not in any of them. Then a gentle whisper came, and in that quiet Elijah met God afresh. God gave him a new mission, told him that seven thousand faithful had not bowed to Baal, and sent him to anoint Elisha as the next prophet.