Coming Out of the Cave

It doesn’t matter how “spiritual” or “together” we may think we are; every one of us will have at least one cave experience in our lifetime. Even the mighty man of God, the Prophet Elijah had to go through his cave experience.

Elijah had just won the most amazing victory over the prophets of Baal and turned the children of Israel back to serving and worshiping Yahweh, the true God. God answered Elijah when he called fire down from heaven; making an open show of the false god Baal and those who served him.

Look at what happens next to Elijah in I Kings 19:3, “Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time." And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.”

As we can see, immediately after this amazing act of boldness and bravery, Elijah was overcome by a spirit of fear from the words of just one woman, Jezebel! He became so fearful from her threat to kill him that this man of many miracles ran away for his life and hid himself in a cave!

Sometimes we also find ourselves in “the cave” after a great success because for every mountain there are two valleys. After a victory sometimes we can feel let down, get really depressed and fearful and even sense that maybe God is not with us anymore. Or can we feel that somehow we blew it!

1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us that we all face the same temptations (challenges); that they are common to all humans.  This verse also tells us that God always makes a way out for us.

That is why the cave experience is not necessarily a bad thing. God can use it as an opportunity to give us a greater anointing and calling. That’s what happened to Elijah. The Lord spoke to him at the cave in a small still voice, assured him that he was not alone in his service to God and gave him his instructions for the rest of his ministry.

Like Elijah, our cave experience can be the turning point of our life. The cave can be a womb; a place of new birth. That place of loneliness, despair; the place where it seems like we are separate from God, can actually become the place where our destiny is birthed!

Or, if we choose to stay in that place of loneliness and despair; only listening to the voice of the devil instead of listening to the voice of God, we will never be set free. Instead of the cave being a womb, the place of new life, it becomes a tomb, a place of death and darkness. It becomes a place where we bury our dreams and hopes and we can even turn away from serving God.

God's about to show us the new anointing He wants to give us. He wants to birth a new vision for our life and tell us how to achieve it. But, He may be allowing circumstances in our life that make us run to the cave, the quiet place so He can meet with us there.

So don’t be afraid to run to the cave. That cave experience can be where you find your new beginning, your new life.  But like Elijah, seek God in that place, hear Him and then, don’t stay there…. Come Out Of The Cave!