WEIGHTY QUESTIONS (2)- “What are you doing here?”
I came out one morning and I saw some of my sons and daughters waiting for me right at my door. The first question that leapt out of my mouth was “What are you doing here?” Why did I ask that? I did not expect to see them that day at all. They came to pull a surprise on me. You can surprise a man but you cannot surprise God.
When God asks the question “What are you doing here?”, it means a lot- God wants to either define the purpose of a season to you or God wants you to see that you are in the wrong place physically or spiritually.
When God asked Elijah that question, it must have been referring not just to a physical location- because it seems Elijah already is familiar with that location. He must have been there a couple of times before. At least, he was not just wandering around. He went to the mountain.
So when God asked Elijah “Where are you?”, it must have been about the state of his mind. Elijah was definitely burnt out. He had all the signs of a minister or believer who was burnt out with the volume of work that had been done.
First, the same gods he shamed on Mount Carmel was used to threaten him and he could not read on between the lines.
Second, he was so tired that he kept sleeping even when an angel woke him up. If you have ever lost appetite for everything except sleep, you will understand this perfectly.
Third, his words showed depression. He was speaking down on himself and talking about dying.
Beloved, when what you would normally handle becomes a heavy task, or you see that sleep becomes a desire over work or the worst of them, you speak condescendingly and depressingly about your call, career, marriage or yourself, you need to answer that question of “What are you doing here?”
Find out how you got there before you make permanent damaging decisions. Once Elijah said he was tired, God requested that he should go ahead to anoint his successor. He signed his resignation letter that day.
However, the most important thing is ensuring that you are not in a state of burnout at any time. Do not burn out. Anytime that question of “What are you doing here?” is asked, make sure you have an answer of hope and strength leaping out of your mouth