Worship

11th Sunday after Pentecost                               August 9, 2026
1 Kings 19:9-18                                                     Pastor Wolfe

Looking for God in all the wrong places

Our service today is talking about doubt, and where to find hope in the midst of that doubt. Can we start this sermon with the obvious, but so often hidden, acknowledgement that we all have doubts about our faith sometimes? Peter in our gospel lesson is all of us. He was fine while he was looking at Jesus and thinking about nothing else, but when his attention shifted his doubt grew as fast as his feet sank. The Apostle Paul himself in 2 Corinthians talked about how he was “pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair.” If Paul could be perplexed and yet be still in faith, then we can get rid of the illusion that being a mature Christian means never having doubts.

The question then becomes, not “will I doubt?” but rather “what will I do when I doubt?” When disaster strikes and the illusion of my control in this world is swept away, then what? When the skeptic challenges my belief in God or what he teaches me in his Word, then where do I go? When my own sin shocks me, disappoints me, and Satan uses that to question my very connection to Christ to whom do I turn? The answer is obvious – we turn to God! But where do we find him? Ah, that’s the key! When I was a kid, long before I knew what the song really meant, I heard a country song called “Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places.” It had a catchy tune and some good lyrics that apparently have stuck with me all these years, because that line came to mind as I read these words about Elijah. He was at a moment of doubt and a time of great personal struggle. But he didn’t find God in power and wind and flame – he found God in a gentle whisper. So too for us. If we want to find God, we need to look for him in the quietness of his Word. In the simplicity of his promises. In the assurance of his peace. Only in those places do we find the faith that overcomes our doubts and satisfies our souls. Today we look at Elijah’s soul struggle and see a mirror of our own.

The prophet Elijah lived at a spiritual low point for God’s people Israel. Long after good kings like David and Solomon, the king at this time was a man named Ahab. He’s described three chapters before this as a man who “did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him.” And his wife was something too. Jezebel, a heathen queen so evil that her name is still today synonymous with immorality and sin. Elijah’s ministry began, in fact, by prophesying to them that God would stop the rain because of their wickedness. And he did. For three and half years no rain fell in Israel. But just before our reading that had changed. Elijah and 850 prophets of the fake god Baal had their showdown on Mt. Carmel. God proved himself as the one true God by accepting Elijah’s sacrifice in incredible fashion while Baal’s altar stayed silent and empty. Upon seeing this, the people of Israel rose up, the false prophets were executed and God brought the rain once again.

Yet, we find Elijah not exactly in the greatest place mentally do we? Instead of repenting, the king and queen renewed their threats against God’s prophet and he has to flee. Verses 8 and 9 before our text tell us, “he travelled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.” This is Mount Sinai, where Moses saw God’s presence in a burning bush. Where, after the exodus, he again saw God and received the commandments. This was a place where people found God. And interestingly, the Hebrew here says “the” cave, not “a” cave. Who knows? This might be the very cave Moses stood in and saw God as he passed by. I guess it doesn’t really matter either way.

As we look at Elijah’s words, we see how much he needed to find God to overcome his doubts. Most of what he says in verse 10 is true. The people did reject the true God. They tore down the true altars and killed the true prophets. They tried to kill him even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. He probably was the most zealous prophet of God as he faced off with the royals, but what did he get for it? He was an enemy of the state, on the run for fear of losing his life. But there’s one claim here that’s not true. Not even close. He says he’s the only prophet left, even though in the chapter before this the prophet Obadiah had just told him how 100 prophets had been saved, hidden and supplied in caves. Did Elijah not believe him, or did his doubts overcome what he knew of the truth?

With a nod to a pastor friend who said this first, when you stick your head in a block of stinky Limberger cheese, the whole world stinks. That was Elijah’s problem. He was so caught up in the things that were bad that he had become blind to God’s blessings. We too are sometimes guilty of looking past God’s blessings because we’re too busy complaining about life’s challenges? I know I do. How many times did someone ask me over the past few weeks how things are at Salem and my first response was, “well, we have no air conditioning. The budget was tough. I didn’t get to do a Bible basics this summer.” And all those things are true, but my goodness how that misses the boat on what’s been going on this summer. We got to see our summer intern grow and start doing pastor things. Vacation Bible school was a blast. The youth rally was amazing, and we have teens looking to lead. We’ve had baptisms, mission trips, and so many in attendance at worship I’m not sure we’ll be able to have just one Sunday service next summer. It’s amazing how quickly we can take God’s blessings for granted, and you know we can be just as blind to our own personal blessings as well.

Being blind to God’s blessings wasn’t Elijah’s only problem though. When he claimed that his work of preaching God’s Word had not produced results even though he had been very zealous in this work, Elijah was implying that God’s way of winning hearts wasn’t working. God knew what Elijah was thinking so he invited the prophet to stand at the mouth of the cave because he had something to show him. When Elijah had positioned himself, an incredible wind ripped through the mountain smashing rocks. When the wind died down an earthquake shook the mountains all around him. The tremor was followed by a raging fire burning everything in its path. As he witnessed these displays of power Elijah must have thought to himself: “That’s what I’m talking about Lord! This is the God I’ve been looking for! Send that wind to blow Jezebel to kingdom come. Use that earthquake to shake some sense into King Ahab. And if he won’t repent, then burn him up in the fire of your justice!” Aren’t we a little like Elijah in this too? If God would only perform miracles of power like sending fire down from heaven, then people would find God. If only God would show me what he wants, then I’d follow.

But God wasn’t in any of those displays of power, was he? No, after the power came a gentle whisper. God was illustrating a point he would make four hundred years later through the prophet Zechariah. “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.” God doesn’t use his mighty power to scare the hell out of people and get them to obey him. No, he moves people to follow him willingly and cheerfully by loving heaven into them. We call this love and good news the Gospel. The truths of what Jesus accomplished for us in his sacrifice on the cross. The payment he made to fulfill our debt. The adoption into his family that makes us truly children of God and part of the Father’s family.

And where do we find that Gospel? Where do we find God fully? Only in the quiet words of the Bible. The same quiet Word a mother shares with her children when she sings Jesus Loves Me at bedtime, the same quiet Word a Christian includes in a get-well card signed with a Bible passage, the same quiet Word preached from this pulpit and used in our outreach efforts – that’s what God uses to change hearts.

And in spite of Elijah’s blinders of doubt, that Word was working still in Israel. The fire and wind and earthquake didn’t bring him any peace, but the words of God did. God told him there was not one, but 7,000 faithful believers still in Israel. Not a huge number, but not what Elijah feared. Maybe God’s word doesn’t work as quickly or openly as we would like, but it works. There are 800 forgiven sinners here at Salem that show it does. Billions around the world who put their trust in Jesus not because they’ve seen power but because they’ve heard promises of peace in Christ. Power is nothing. Satan can produce fake miracles. Technology can do incredible things. But only the Word of God can bring lasting peace to a troubled heart. Only the Word sets our hopes on a foundation that can’t be broken or stolen from us.

So, brothers and sisters in faith, you don’t have to hide your doubts. You don’t have to pretend you are something you’re not. Something none of us are. We all face doubts and fears. Instead attack that doubt with the strongest display of God’s divine might – the Word that is the very power of God for the salvation of all who believe. You have the blessing of knowing where to look to find God, and the Spirit-given faith that allows you to see him when you get there.

Recognize though, that there are still many who don’t just look for God in the wrong places sometimes, as we do. They don’t know where to look at all. For them – your neighbor, your coworker, the other moms on your kids’ sports teams, the guy who gives you coffee every Wednesday… recognize the gift that you are to them from God. Your sharing of faith doesn’t have to be a big thing. Just let them know you’ve found the peace of God by the way you live your life, by the way you speak and choices you make. And then when God opens the door to speak to them, you may be surprised to hear God’s powerful whisper coming from you. God bless us with faith to overcome our doubts, and with gentle words to bring that faith to others. To God be the glory. Amen.