I am learning more about myself each day. Yesterday, well last night, I learned that it isn't a good idea to go to a Seminary inservice meeting and discuss ways to improve your gospel teaching and then come home and read the scriptures. I couldn't get to sleep!! My mind was going full steam and although I am grateful for the things I learned, I am a little tired today. So I thanked the Lord for all the insights that the Spirit gave me and I asked Him to please help me stay awake today and have all the energy that I need!
1 Kings 18
Elijah had previously told Ahab that there would be no rain for an undisclosed period of time. Chapter 18 picks up the story three years later. After a three year period of being hidden away from public view, Elijah is being brought back into the spotlight.
The command from God is for Elijah to come out of hiding and present himself to his arch enemy Ahab. If I were Elijah I think I might have responded with, "You want me to do what? Going into hiding was one thing, but going back, especially in light of the current social conditions, that's just crazy! Surely, I will be killed!"
Let me explain what was going on at the time the Lord makes this command:
The nation of Israel has been in a drought for over three years! Thousands have died as a result! Starvation is rampant, poverty is all around, people are angry and Elijah is the man who God used to announce the drought (17:1).
The leaders of Israel, Ahab and Jezebel, are not happy. In their minds, Elijah was public enemy number one. These two leaders of Israel encouraged the people to worship Baal. Baal worship involved all kinds of sacrifices, including self-mutilation. Some people went so far as to offer their own children as sacrifices. The temples to Baal also included many “holy prostitutes”. It was paganism gone rampant!
The call to "hide thyself" must have been difficult, but the command to "shew thyself" came when there was every reason not to want to. If I were Elijah, I would want to stay in seclusion for a little while longer! Yet, God's command is to show yourself.
Elijah's response reveals his heart for God. My response also says a lot about where my heart is! How do I get a heart like Elijah's?
Obedience
Elijah didn't need all the details, he just needed God to give him a command and he was ready to obey! Elijah's obedience sets the standard that all of God's children should strive to reach! When God speaks, he moves! Elijah does not object, point out the difficulties or try to reason with God. When God speaks, he moves. What a lesson that is for us! God's call is enough to spur the prophet into action.
Did you know that nothing reveals the truth of our love for God any more clearly than our obedience to Him? We can say anything we wish to say, but we prove we love the Lord when we cheerfully obey the commands He has given us (John 14:15). In fact, obedience to the Lord's commands carries with it a special promise (John 14:21)!
What do your actions reveal about your heart? What does you obedience say about your love for God? If I want a heart like Elijah's I need to obey, even if I don't understand all the details!
Courage
Put yourself in Elijah’s shoes. You know the reputation of Ahab and Jezebel. You know they have been on a rampage against the prophets of the Lord. You are being blamed for the drought, famine, and destruction that has been taking place in Israel. There is a good chance Ahab will try to kill you as soon as he sets eyes on you. But you go anyway!
We may never be asked to risk our lives for Christ, but there are times in life when it takes courage to do the right thing.
- It takes courage to stand and be obedient to Christ in school where your beliefs are ridiculed.
- It takes courage to live as a believer in the work environment where the humor is crude and the co-workers are only looking for a paycheck.
- It takes courage to remain faithful in your marriage even though you are unhappy and the opportunity to be unfaithful seems plentiful.
- It takes courage to stand for moral decency in a world that sees such convictions as a vice.
- It takes courage to continue to trust God when your body is under assault by disease and nothing makes sense.
Opportunities to show courage are presented to us every day. We have to decide if we will remain in hiding or if we will show ourselves in these moments.
Patience
The first verse of chapter 18 says, “And it came to pass after many days.” Don’t miss this. Think about all the time that Elijah had to wait on the Lord. As we read these chapters it can appear that things happened quickly. They didn’t. There was a three year period of waiting.
When you think about it, many of God's chosen have had to wait. Abraham waited for a son. Joseph waited in prison. Moses waited to enter the Promised Land. David waited to be King. Time and again the children of Israel waited for deliverance. Jesus waited for the “right time”. Paul waited in jail for two years. And ever since the Lord’s ascension, we have been waiting for the Lord’s return.
No one likes to wait. We don’t like to wait for our food because we are hungry. We don’t like to wait for an answer to prayer because we want to have things resolved.
Sometimes as Christians we might find that God has put us in the waiting room. Why would he do that? We may need to wait for:
- attitudes to change (ours or someone else)
- a needed character trait to develop
- trust to deepen
- for a danger to pass
- an opportunity to develop
- more information.
Elijah showed his faith by being willing to wait. We can do the same!
Elijah was a great servant of God, am I? Do I talk a good game, or am I really living out what I claim to believe? These are tough questions, but I think the answers are even tougher. They reveal where my heart is and it is not always in the right place. I need to work on obedience, courage, and patience in my life. I am not a terrible person, or for that matter a terrible servant of the Lord, but there is room for improvement. I need to come out of my hiding place and learn to show myself, so that there will be no question as to where my heart is with God!
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