1 Kings 17:19-21 “‘Give me your son,’ Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the Lord, ‘O Lord my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?’ Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!’”

Elijah knew the God he preached and worshiped. He knew that he was a God of mercy. And that inspired in the prophet a bold prayer for help. It is bold because he acknowledges the Lord’s hand in the situation, his responsibility for what has happened so far: “Have you brought tragedy…?”

Sometimes people don’t want to acknowledge God’s role in the painful things we suffer, as though the Lord were only a passive observer with his hands tied to prevent him from doing anything about it. Elijah prays to the God he knows to be in control of all things, including the death of this little boy. If the Lord isn’t in control, then what is the use of praying to him?

We may not understand why his running of our world calls for catastrophic hurricanes, deadly wildfires, crushing inflation, or fighting in Ukraine that could turn into World War III. We may not understand why illness, injury, or death has to touch our lives when it does. But let’s not think that our Lord has been asleep at the wheel. He is not helpless to keep these things from happening. That would be far worse than suffering our tragedies in the first place. Elijah can admit God’s role and still pray for help because he still has faith in God’s mercy.

Elijah’s prayer is a bold prayer because he dares to disagree with the circumstances as the Lord has currently worked them out. His question, his word choices, suggest that it is not good for the widow to suffer this tragedy and for her son to die. There is some hint of that in all our prayers for help, isn’t there–some note of “I object” to things as they currently stand, “I disagree” with the way the Lord has been directing current affairs? Where do we get the gall to question the Almighty on the way he is running our world and offer him our opinion?

Truth is, the Lord has revealed that he is a God of grace and mercy, hasn’t he? Over and over again in the Old Testament he described himself as the “gracious and compassionate God.” In doing so he has practically invited us to come and speak our mind when current circumstances don’t seem compatible with his claims of compassion. We believe he really is merciful, and that inspires our prayers.