What are you doing here?
Have you ever felt defeated? Ever felt like it's been one failed attempt after another? Your heart is in the right place, but someone misunderstands you or overlooks your efforts. In these moments, it's easy to fall into a negative headspace. I know because I was there.
It's been a while since I have even looked at this website or the podcast. It all seemed so useless for some strange reason. But then I opened my Bible, reluctantly, but I did. And what awaited me was exactly what I needed. I hope this message blesses you, like it did me. God is an on-time God for sure. Under the YouTube video below are the sermon notes.
By the way if you are free, join me tomorrow at the FIREUP Conference 8/28/26
What Are You Doing Here?
Self-Deception
August 23, 2026Zaibel Torres
Every sermon I bring here was a sermon meant for me first. Remember that.
Introduction: Elijah
Context
Today, I want to talk about one of my favorite prophets in the Bible: Elijah.
Elijah was brave. When he prayed for the rain to stop, it stopped for three years. Then he wanted to show all of Israel that Yahweh was the real and only living God. So he challenged the prophets of Baal. When Elijah prayed for fire, the heavens opened, and fire fell.
During this time, King Ahab was king, but his wife, Jezebel, called the shots. She worshiped pagan gods and coerced an entire nation into worshiping them as well. She even had hundreds of prophets practicing Baal and Asherah worship—850 in total.
But Elijah knew who God was, so he challenged the prophets to a competition.
“How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
The Challenge
1 Kings 18:22–24
22 Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.23 Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it.24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”
Elijah knew their “gods” were frauds. He let them pray from morning until noon. He even mocked them, telling them to shout louder. Maybe their god was busy or sleeping.
But when evening came, Elijah told the people to dig a trench around the altar he had repaired. Then they drenched the sacrifice with water—not once, not twice, but three times.
Then Elijah prayed:
“Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
Fire fell down from heaven and consumed everything!
Elijah had the prophets seized and slaughtered. Then he told the king, “Go and eat and drink, because rain is coming.”
So, not only was there a great victory, but now the drought was going to end.
So, after all that, surely the nation would give their hearts back to God, right?
They did!
Remember, Elijah did not single-handedly kill all the prophets. He gave the order, and the people responded. These prophets were leading the people into idolatry, and they were put to death.
So—victory, right?
1. Despair — Losing Sight of God
Let’s open our Bibles to 1 Kings 19. We are going to read verses 1–9.
1 Kings 19:1–9
1 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.6 All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.
The Lord Appears to Elijah
And the word of the Lord came to him:
“What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Which is today’s question and title:
WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?
There are so many golden nuggets to pull from this Scripture, but we are going to focus on just a few.
1. Despair — Losing Sight of God
After that triumphant victory, Elijah gave the orders, and the people responded by killing those who had led them astray.
But you know who didn’t respond?
Jezebel and Ahab.
The king and his queen, with all their resources and money, could simply get more prophets and continue leading the nation into idolatry.
So yes, it was a big deal. But notice that Elijah says:
“I am the only one of God’s prophets left.”
But he wasn’t.
If you read 1 Kings 18, we are introduced to Obadiah, who specifically said that he had been hiding prophets.
Elijah was already feeling alone.
He’s more human than we think.
And when Jezebel and Ahab don’t turn their hearts toward God, but instead threaten to kill Elijah, he becomes afraid.
The man who had just experienced the most miraculous victory—fire poured from the sky—and he was afraid?
Look at the situation differently
Joey and I were watching movies the other night, and there was this guy who was a schoolteacher. His student had been kidnapped, and he managed to find her.
But at the moment when the bad guy had the schoolteacher, he started talking to him. Joey and I both agreed that, in the real world, the bad guy would have killed him already. There wouldn’t have been any talking.
And that made me think about Jezebel.
Jezebel was queen. She could have simply sent someone to kill Elijah. Instead, she sent him a message.
Probably her intention was to get Elijah to abandon his mission.
It was a pretty heavy threat, but that threat also gave Elijah time to run.
See, the problem is not always what is happening. The problem can be the lens through which we look at what is happening.
Some of us live here.
So I ask you:
WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?
There is a term in psychology that describes this: psychological projection.
Elijah wasn’t alone.
He was never alone.
He had God. He had his apprentice who had been with him throughout all of this. And the people of Israel did respond.
Yes, Ahab and Jezebel didn’t respond—and I understand that they had influence—but are we going to breeze over the fact that the people seized the prophets?
It’s like a pastor preaching, and one person gives their heart to Christ, but the rest of the congregation doesn’t respond.
We say, “It was a flop. All of it was garbage.”
HOW WE SEE IT IS WHAT DECEIVES US.
A woman gets divorced: “No one wants me.”
A man loses his job: “No one wants to hire me.”
A person is hurt by one person in the church: “The entire church is bad.”
A little boy is raised by an abusive woman: “All women are evil.”
When we are busy looking at ourselves, we lose sight of who God is.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?
Be aware of where you are.
This is self-deception.
2. He Went Into Isolation
Elijah wasn’t alone.
We read in verse 3 that he left his servant behind.
And let’s not forget: he had GOD with him.
What we know from Scripture is that it was dangerous to be in Elijah’s company because of the king and Jezebel.
So maybe that’s why he left him.
I don’t know. Scripture doesn’t tell us.
But I wonder: if Elijah had kept his servant with him, would he have been a voice of reason to Elijah in this moment of despair?
Would he have encouraged him?
We do this, right?
When times are tough:
“I want to be alone.”
Proverbs 18:1 says:
“Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.”
Humanity is wired for connection.
It’s how God designed us.
The Mental Health Effects of Isolation
Depression and anxiety
Cognitive decline
Distorted reality
We see Elijah become pessimistic—to the point that he prays for God to take his life.
He even says:
“I am no better than my ancestors.”
This is self-deception.
Are you in a season where you want to be alone?
WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?
3. Neglecting the Basic Needs of His Body
This one is interesting because, of all the times God could have sent an angel to be by Elijah’s side, God didn’t send one on Mount Carmel to fight with him.
God didn’t send an angel while Elijah was running for his life to carry him.
No.
God sends an angel to cook for him.
Elijah was human, and he needed to eat to regain his strength.
God gave him what he needed:
Nutrition.
The “Mud Cookies”
Have you heard the story of the “mud cookies”?
There is an area in Haiti that has suffered from starvation. There is a type of clay that, when cooked, resembles bread and can even taste like bread.
Some mothers fed it to their children to make them stop crying from the pains of starvation.
Interestingly enough, if you see the children, they can have big bellies, but they are still starving to death because the clay has absolutely no nutritional value.
The Gut-Brain Connection
Did you know there is a nerve that runs from your stomach to your brain?
It’s called the vagus nerve. It is part of what is often referred to as the gut-brain axis.
When your gut is not functioning properly, it can send signals to your brain that affect your mood.
A few years ago, I got sick.
Doctors wanted to remove my gallbladder. My mouth was filled with blisters, and I was in constant pain. So, of course, I was miserable.
The hospital told me, “This is your new life. There is no cure.”
I ended up going to a doctor who practiced Eastern medicine. They did blood work and told me I was vitamin A deficient. They sent me to a nutritionist.
I’ll spare you the details of what they found, but sweet potatoes contain vitamin A. So I ate a lot of them, and within three months, I was cured.
We often go to therapists and spiritual mentors, thinking, “This is an attack on my mind.”
But sometimes, it can be your diet.
I wasn’t starving. I had food. I was actually at my heaviest.
Food wasn’t the issue.
It was the right food.
A lot of what we eat has absolutely no nutritional value. We are getting fat but dying of malnutrition.
So I ask you:
Are you here?
Are you on a fad diet for appearance or vanity, or are you on a diet for health?
There is a difference.
That is self-deception.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?
4. “Get Up and Eat!”
Elijah gets up and eats, and he is so strengthened by that food that he travels for 40 days and 40 nights.
What he ate was enough.
When I read this Scripture, this was what I needed.
Like I told all of you from the start, this message was for me first, and I hope and pray that it encourages you.
I recently heard through the grapevine that someone in my family tree said that the book I wrote was a disgrace.
One person.
One.
Yet I wrote off the entire family as hating me.
I didn’t want to move or talk about it. And although I didn’t isolate myself physically, I didn’t want to talk about it with anyone.
Like Elijah, I was projecting.
“Everyone hates me.”
I was isolated. I couldn’t talk to anyone, but I wanted to live.
So it wasn’t that bad, I guess.
But when you’re going through it, it feels like it.
So I ask you:
WHAT ARE YOU EATING?
Are you fattening yourself up on mud cookies but dying inside?
That is self-deception.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?
Conclusion
I have good news for you.
Jesus says in John 6:35:
“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
So:
You want the strength to carry on?What are you eating?
You want to be so satisfied that it will last you 40 days?What are you eating?
The Word of God and the presence of His majesty are all we need.
They are the nutrition for our body, spirit, and soul.
And if you’re not eating it—
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