“And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.’ Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ‘Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.’”
1 Kings 17:1-3

Elijah knew what it meant to wait on the Lord. He had no sooner arrived on the scene (verse 1) than the Lord was instructing him to “hide yourself” (1 Kings 17:2-3). How do you get a ministry off the ground if you don’t have a public display of preaching and power? The idea of hiding ourselves goes completely against human nature and against the current of our world. The Lord was about to use Elijah in a mighty way, but Elijah needed to know that the power was not in his own ability. He needed to experience clearly that “Jehovah is God,” which is the meaning of his name. Elijah had a fresh appreciation of the Lord and the fact that He is a living God. He also realized that he stood in the presence of his God, and his ears were open to hear the Lord. But he needed to learn the value of a hidden life at Cherith.

Cherith means “cut away,” “cut up,” or “cut off.” The Lord brought him here to cut away his dependence on self. It is the place where the Lord teaches us to rely completely on Him. Cherith is the place where God aligns our thoughts and desires with His.

Throughout the Bible, the Lord hides His servants before He uses them. Joseph was hidden in a pit, then in a prison, before he came to the palace. Moses was hidden in the desert before he led the people out of Egypt. David was hidden in the mountains, running in and out of caves to escape Saul, before he was recognized as king. Paul was hidden for three years in Arabia after his conversion, before he became the missionary we know as the apostle Paul. And here, God hides Elijah at Cherith before the great conflict at Mt. Carmel with the prophets of Baal.

The original tagline for YouTube was “Broadcast Yourself.” The “slogan” for the Christian life is just the opposite of “broadcast yourself.” It is “hide yourself,” as Paul declared, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Anchor For Today:
Not I, but Christ! This is the value of the hidden life, that Christ may be seen and heard!