Lost faith in humanity.
Someone told me recently that they felt like they had lost their faith in humanity.
You feel it, too, I know. It’s a dull ache that lodges in your chest. A constant thrumming deep inside that says nothing is really getting better, and maybe it never will.
The whole world feels shrouded—no corner has escaped. Children are gunned down in their classrooms. People are killed for the color of their skin. Putin’s advance against Ukraine continues. The political and social divides in the wake of COVID-19 look too deep to heal. And on and on. The thrumming ache grows louder, drowning out the hope we long to find.
It hurts, this loss of faith. Worse, it feels inevitable. Is there any point in trying to rediscover faith when the darkness is so deep?
Elijah was the prophet who asked God to send down fire from heaven in front of the prophets of Baal, and God sent the fire. It burned up the soaking wet sacrifice, and everyone who watched should have known that the God Elijah served was true. After that defining moment, the Queen told Elijah she would kill him for the display. He ran into the desert and sat under a tree. And under that tree, Elijah asked God to end his life. Because if fire from heaven couldn’t change the minds of the people, then he, Elijah, was out of ideas and out of faith.
In response, God asked Elijah a question. “What are you doing here?”
Elijah said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts, but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.”
God didn’t answer, but He sent Elijah onto a mountain. Then God sent a great wind, a mighty earthquake, and a brilliant fire. But He spoke in none of them. Then there was a still, small voice.
In the stillness, God asked again, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Elijah answered again that he had been zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts, but everyone else had forsaken the covenant. He was the only one left.
Then God responded. He told Elijah to go back out of the wilderness. He told him to go anoint a new king of Israel and anoint the next prophet, both of whom would bring justice on those who defied the Lord. Then He said, “Nevertheless, I have reserved seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
Elijah had the same thrumming in his chest: “No hope. No hope. No hope.” His faith was gone. If fire from heaven hadn’t changed humanity, nothing would.
“What are you doing here, Elijah?”
It wasn’t the question Elijah expected. “I’m the only one left! There is no more hope. Humanity has failed.”
God didn’t even address Elijah’s statement. Instead, he redirected.
“Go back and do what I’ve put in front of you to do. You don’t have any idea what I’m planning.”
It’s possible we need to answer the same question ourselves.
“What am I doing here?”
“I’m alone! In my chest I feel the thrumming. My faith has run out. There’s no point in hoping anymore.”
That thrumming in your chest? The one that makes it hard to swallow because your insides feel hollowed out? That’s space. It’s the space your lost faith in humanity left behind. It’s time to fill it. If the question is for us, the redirect is, too.
“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Romans 8:22-25
Your faith in humanity was never going to last. Humanity was always going to fail you. But the fact that humanity can’t bear the weight of your faith doesn’t mean nothing can.
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Romans 8:18
Elijah gave up. And God said, “Just wait. You’ll see what I’m going to do.”
To us, He says the same.
Let the empty space humanity has left in you be filled with faith in the God of sure hope. Let the dull thrumming become a thrumming not of pain, but of anticipation. All hope seems lost. But God is not finished yet. Lift your eyes. The brokenness you see is not even worth comparing to the glory that you will see.
Have you lost faith in humanity? Good. Fill the space with hope in the One who will redeem humanity. And you.