Tafsiran 1 Raja-raja 18:1: Radak & Tze'enah Ure'enah

Because of the drought many people repented and improved their ways. additionally, there were 7 thousand people in Israel who did not bow down to Baal.

“After many days the word of God came to Elijah in the third year” [18:1]. It was in the third year of the famine and scarcity. God spoke to Elijah: go and present yourself, so that you will be seen by King Ahab and tell him that I will give rain so that the grain will grow, since some have repented out of great hunger. There are times when the Holy One must punish Israel in the hope that they will repent. Our sages said that Ahasuerus gave his signet from his hand to Haman that he should do to Israel as Haman wished, and Israel immediately repented. When the prophets punished Israel, they did not repent. Thus, the signet of Ahasuerus was better than all the prophets who punished Israel.¹B. Megillah, 14a.

Leviticus Rabbah writes that when a person, heaven forbid, is in pain, he thinks that a few days are many days. That is why it is written here, “after many days.” That is to say, just as there was hunger for many days, and in truth it was not so many years, but in troubles, a short time feels like a long time because of the troubles.²Leviticus Rabbah, 19.5.