If you’ve been in church for very long you may be familiar
with the story in I Kings 18 about Elijah & the prophets of Baal on Mount
Carmel. You may have heard preaching about that story or the one that
immediately follows it in chapter 19, where Jezebel threatens his life &
Elijah flees as far south as he can to escape her.
I was just reading those 2 chapters & it reminded me about
something that is really important for all believers. It reminded me that no one is
invincible or immune from getting hit hard on the gridiron that we call life.
Something very notable in chapter 18 is that every step Elijah
took in confronting & overcoming the challenge was taken in conscientious
obedience to God’s direction. God directed Elijah to confront Ahab (18:1, 36).
Every word & action of the prophet reflected the boldness & confidence
of someone who had clearly heard from God.
The execution of the Baal prophets, along with the
miraculous end of the 3-year drought likely caused Elijah to believe that
Israel had turned a corner & could now be restored to right relationship
with God.
Boy, did he get a surprise the next day!
When Ahab told Jezebel what had happened, she didn’t take it
lying down. Instead she went on the offensive & threatened to have Elijah
killed. Instead of the great victory he anticipated, he got hit in the face
with a huge disappointment. Instead of Jezebel folding, the “invincible” man of
God folded & ran.
We can fall into the trap of seeing ourselves as invincible.
Sometimes because of youthful energy, faithfulness in spiritual disciplines, previous
ministry victories, etc. we think that nothing can stop us. True, God’s redemptive
plan cannot ultimately be stopped. But it may experience what appear to us to
be setbacks. We can be disappointed when what we expected doesn’t happen as we
hoped. We can experience emotional highs & lows.
In a word, we’re not invincible.
But the Lord is.
Let’s be encouraged today by that, not by
our own feeling that for whatever reason we won’t experience setbacks & disappointments.
Thank you Pastor Ray I needed to read that. This reminds me that the enemy of our souls is constantly working to thwart us and our walk with God (Jesus and Holy Spirit )
ReplyDeleteTo hinder our prayers. But, putting on our Spiritual armor daily from Ephesians chapter 6 helps us to overcome and continue being the Christian soldiers that we are intended to be. Plus it's good that we are buffeted because it keeps us close to God. You are right we are not invincible but we serve an INVINCIBLE God. I started a Bible study prayer group in my home. What a blessing but I find the enemy really working hard against Chuck and I.Through it all we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus as we keep our eyes on Him. And pray continually as the Apostle Paul taught us all. I have a vision of a home Church in my basement. A church that doesn't rely on the government for kick backs. But a church that is like the book of Acts. Trusting and relying on God for everything. Sharing what we have with one another. Allowing God to show himself strong on our behalf. I believe that's how He wants all His Remnant to live.