Both success and safety rest heavily on a proper understanding of times and seasons. Times and seasons vary, and their demands vary as well. Knowing what each moment requires is cardinal to properly navigate life. In our text, Elijah was instructed to go eastward and hide by the brook at Cherith. Obedience to that instruction did not only lead him to abundant supply during the famine, but it also saved his life. Ahab went on a manhunt to several nations. He wanted to nab Elijah who he erroneously believed to be the cause of his woes. The brook was the last place the king would have considered appropriate for Elijah to hide.
There is a time to be in the eye of the public, and a time to “hide thyself”. If you put yourself in public glare when you ought to lie low, you risk certain things – it could be your assignment or even your life itself. To hide sometimes is not a sign of cowardice but a demonstration of wisdom.
Can we consider Elijah’s hiding at Cherith as a sign of cowardice? Far from it. Jesus had occasion to hide too. “Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” (John 8:59 NKJV). Had He not hidden from them, He would have died at a time and manner that God did not design. There is a time to be in the eye of the public, and a time to “hide thyself”. If you put yourself in public glare when you ought to lie low, you risk certain things – it could be your assignment or even your life itself. To hide sometimes is not a sign of cowardice but a demonstration of wisdom. Hiding in today’s context may include turning off the phone or going off social media for a time.