A man just like us
One of my favorite stories about Elijah is 1 Kings 18. At the Lord's word through Elijah it had not rained for three years. Elijah had been hiding from Ahab and Jezebel all that time and experiencing miraculous provision. Now the word of the Lord comes to Elijah and tells him to go and present himself to Ahab because God is going to send rain.
Elijah uses the occasion to bring the Israelites to their senses and make them choose which God they will serve: Baal or the LORD. He calls for a showdown between the four hundred prophets of Baal and himself, the only one of the Lord's prophets left. Verse 22. He told them "The god who answers by fire -- he is God." I Kings 18.24.
I love how the scripture portrays Elijah's humanness as he taunts the prophets of Baal and jeers at them. They had been dancing and shouting all morning and nothing had happened. Elijah provokes them by taunting "Shout louder!!" "Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." This pushed the prophets of Baal into a greater frenzy and they shouted louder and cut themselves with swords and spears until blood was flowing. This went on until the time for the evening sacrifice.
That's when Elijah called the people to him and they repaired the altar of the Lord which was in ruins, prepared the sacrifice and poured barrels of water on the wood and the sacrifice. Then the Lord sent his fire and consumed the sacrifice and the water as well.
Now it was time for the rain to come so Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and prayed. He told his servant to go and look for clouds. There was nothing. I think that is where some of us stop. We pray and nothing happens so we just quit. Elijah kept praying. Seven times he told his servant to go back and look and the seventh time he saw a cloud as small as a man's hand. Nothing great but something to hang your faith on. James 5:17 says Elijah was a man just like us. He had the same emotions, doubts and fears we have. He showed those emotions many times through his life, like running from Jezebel and having a pity party. I Kings 19.
Elijah prayed earnestly and didn't stop when he didn't see an immediate answer to prayer. Then when he saw a glimmer of an answer he latched onto it and didn't let go. We are God's servants just as much as Elijah was. I Cor. 3:16 says we are God's temple and his Spirit lives in us. Do we really grab hold of that or does it just seem like so many words. WE ARE GOD'S TEMPLE. HIS SPIRIT LIVES IN US. Those two sentences should generate enough faith in us that we can believe God to fulfill his word in us. You see, Elijah could have the kind of faith he had because he had a word from the Lord that he was going to send rain. What is God's word to you? If you have a word from the Lord you can have the faith of Elijah. There's an old saying, "God said it, I believe it and that settles it." If God says something it will come to pass because he does not go back on his word. God is not a man that he should lie. Num. 23:19.
Repair your altar of prayer. Let God speak his word, his plan into your heart; let God give you your dream. Then hang onto the word God has spoken to you. Don't quit praying when something doesn't happen the first time you pray. Keep praying until you see even a small "cloud" and then run with God. The spirit of God came on Elijah and he outran Ahab's chariot!!! Let God infuse you with his wisdom, not the wisdom of the world, because it is foolishness. I Cor. 3:19.
Tomorrows Bible Reading - 1 Kings 19, Jeremiah 45, 1 Corinthians 4-5
God is good all the time,
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