Fighting to be faithful and obedient like Elijah

Sorry, it's been a while. Gosh it's been busy. And still having trouble writing blogs from home. I can only do it from the work computer, and most of the time when I'm here I'm actually working...tehehe...hence the reason for my lack of blogs. But alas, here is a new one...I came in early to write one today!

In my devotions this morning I read 1 Kings 17-18 and I was so blown away by the faith and obedience of Elijah. Man he was an awesome guy. I really want to encourage you to read it...I'm sure you'll be blown away too.

This is the general jist of it anyway...there was a new King in Israel, Ahab and this guy was not good! Actually it says in 1 Kings 16:30 (NIV),

"Ahab did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him"

So, that kinda sets the scene a little. This guy was just all round bad news! Not only was he evil, but he was starting to worship a false God, Baal. So Elijah, a guy from Tishbite, says to Ahab,

"I'm a servant of the living LORD, the God of Israel. And I swear in his name that it won't rain until I say so. There won't even be any dew on the ground." (17:1 CEV)

Then God said to Elijah, "Leave and go across the Jordan River so you can hide near Cherith Creek. You can drink water from the creek, and eat the food I've told the ravens to bring you." (17:3 CEV)

Let me stop there for a minute...how awesome is that. I mean think about that for a minute. It says in verse 5 that Elijah obeyed God...he didn't think twice about it...he just went where he was told to go. And God was faithful...verse 6 says,

"Ravens brought him bread and meat twice a day, and he drank water from the creek."

Can you imagine a raven, a bird, coming to you twice a day to bring you meat and bread? Does that not totally blow your mind? I mean come on. Picture it. Humour me. Close your eyes and picture a raven flying through the sky with meat and bread in it's mouth. If I said that's how you were going to get your food every day I bet you'd say, "Yeah, ah ha...and a stork delivered me to my parents!...Riiight!" Don't feel bad, I would have reacted the same way. So when God said to Elijah, "Hey dude, go hide near Cherith Creek and I'll send a raven every day to feed you!" don't you think he would have thought that was a bit crazy? I know I would have. But Elijah didn't even question God. He probably thought it sounded a little out there...but he didn't question it because it was GOD! God was sending him. God was telling him to do something...so why would he question it? He just obeyed. No questions. He just did it. And sure enough, every day, in fact twice a day, God sent a raven to feed Elijah bread and meat. WOAH! What an awesome God.

But, before long, ofcourse, all the water started to dry up. I mean it hadn't rained in ages, the water supply can only last for so long. So God says to Elijah,

"Go to the town of Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I've told a widow in that town to give you food." (17:9 CEV)

Again, sounds a little far fetched. I mean, a widow. A widow is poor. A widow can't afford to feed Elijah. But again, no questions asked, Elijah heads off to Zarephath. When he arrives he sees a widow. She's out gathering sticks for a fire. So he goes up to her and says "Can you get me some water?" Then she starts to walk away to get it and Elijah (not even afraid he's pushing the friendship a little) calls out to her, "Oh, and by the way, can you bring me some bread too?" The widow turns around and says, "Sorry mate, I swear by God that I have nothing! I mean all I've got is a handful of flour and just a little bit of olive oil. Sorry, I'm about to go home and make something for my son and I to eat and then after that we'll probably starve to death cause we'll have no food left." but Elijah says to her, "Don't worry about anything. Just go home and make your bread, but first give me some to eat. I promise you in God's Name that you will NOT run out of oil or flour!"

So, the widow trotts on home, probably thinking, "Is this guy for real? What if he's tricking me? What if I make it and run out of oil and flour? My son and I will die." But she gets home and makes Elijah some bread anyway, and sure enough, her jars are full. She didn't run out of flour or oil, just as Elijah had said.

Has anyone seen that ad that used to be on TV about the Tim Tams that never run out? That's what I picture when I think about this womans jars of flour and oil. Every time she used a bit of flour or oil God would fill it up again. She had a never ending jar of flour and a never ending jar of oil. Wouldn't you love to have a never ending supply of food? We're funny people aren't we? I mean, isn't it funny that we don't trust God and we doubt and question everything?! Wouldn't it be so great to live in those days when people didn't question what God asked them to do. But today we are taught to question everything and we get in the way of what God wants to do and how fast He can do it! Although, I have to say from the outset that that is no excuse! We don't have to question everything. We don't have to doubt what God says. We make our own choices. Life would be so much simpler if we would just say YES straight away!

So the story continues. It keeps getting better. Well, not before it gets a little sad. Elijah had been staying with this widow for a little while now and then her son got sick. He got so sick that he died. The widow was SO angry with Elijah. She said to him,

"What have I done to you? I thought you were God's prophet. Did you come here to cause the death of my son as a reminder that I've sinned against God?" (17:18 CEV)

Elijah himself was feeling a little sad and confused at why this had happened. So he took the womans son upstairs to his room and put the boy on his bed and he cried out to God. He said, "What's the deal God? This woman did everything you said and she let me stay in her house just as you said. Why have you let her boy die?" Then he stretched himself over the boy 3 times praying to God,

"Lord God, bring this boy back to life!" (17:21 CEV)

Then all of a sudden the boy started to breathe. Elijah let out a sigh of relief, picked him up and carried him back down to his mother. His mother was totally gobsmacked!! She looked at him and said, "Man, you really are for real. Now I know for sure that God sent you and that everything you've told me is true!"

Well, first God provides food and water for Elijah, then he goes on providing more for Elijah and the widow and her son, then He brings this boy back to life! He was dead! He actually stopped breathing. He was gone! But God bought him back to life again! Man, can it get any more amazing than this? YES!! WOOHOO!! God is so good...

Let's skip over to 1 Kings 18:16-46. That awesome story of Elijah on Mount Carmel. Remember Ahab the new King? Well, he was getting really cocky and he was still worshipping Baal. So, Elijah gave him a challenge. "Lets both go get a bull to sacrifice. We'll both set it up on an altar and you pray to Baal and I'll pray to the real God and then we'll see which one sets the sacrifice on fire!" So, ofcourse, Ahab's up for a challenge, being his cocky self, so he agrees to the challenge. So Elijah says, "Lets not flip a coin, you go first!" So Ahab gets his people together and they get ready.

So everything's ready. The bull, the altar. Now all they have to do is call on Baal and surely he'll send the fire! So they start praying and dancing around the altar. They're calling out to Baal, "Come on Baal, answer us!" But, surprise surprise, no answer! Elijah thinks, this is too good to not say something. So he has a bit of a dig at them, "Hmmm, maybe he's gone on holidays. Shout a little louder! Maybe he's asleep...tough job being a false god!" So, stupid as they are, they start to shout a little louder, just incase he did go on holidays. But nothing!

So Elijah comes over and says, "Alright, that's enough now. Move aside! You look ridiculous. Let me show you the REAL God!" So he prepares his altar and puts his bull in place, and just to prove his point he says to the people who were worshipping Baal, "Go get some water, like bucketloads, and full up the trench around the altar and then soak the offering with water." So they did it 3 times. The altar was soaked! Then when it was all set he called out to God and said, "OK God, it's all set. Show us your stuff! Show these people you're the man...the bees knees if you will!!" The Lord smiled (He loves Elijah's sense of humour) and straight away he sent fire! Not only did it burn the bull, but it burnt the wood and stones on the altar and the ground around the altar was all scorched and all the water they'd poured on the altar was all soaked up! When the people saw what happened and picked their chins up off the floor they all fell on the ground and worshipped God!

YEAH! Now that's what I'm talkin bout! What an awesome God!! Then Elijah, feeling quite excited and proud of his God, I'm sure, nudges God and says, "Hey God, how bout that rain now..." He tells Ahab to go and eat and drink cause it's gonna rain. So off Ahab goes. Then when he sees the clouds coming he sends a messenger to tell Ahab to get in his chariot and get out of there before the rain came. If he didn't leave then the rain would be too much and would stop him! So he gets in his chariot and gets going. Then it started to get really cloudy and windy and it started pouring! Then next part is awesome...the worlds first champion sprinter...it says in 18:46NIV

"The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel."

Man, Ahab was havin a bad day that day! Not only did Elijah prove his god wrong, but he whooped his butt and beat him home!! WOOHOO! Go God!!

Man what an awesome devotions this morning! What a lesson and a challenge! It's so much easier to say YES to God the first time and watch His power and provisions start to unfold in our lives, rather than hang onto everything and try and figure it out first! Trust me! You're never going to fully figure out God, so get over it and just be obedient! You don't need to understand everything right away or sometimes at all! If God thought that you couldn't act without understanding everything then He would explain it all to us! But He wants to see if you will say yes even when it doesn't make sense. Even when it seems like a risk or it seems a little too scary. He doesn't want you to think about it, he just wants you to say "OK Lord, use me!!"

What a challenge today!! To be used by the Lord in such a powerful way! Can it still happen the way it did when Elijah obeyed God?? Of course it can! And more importantly it WILL...when you say YES! Don't hesitate! If God is asking you to do something...just be faithful and obedient...not cause there's something in it for you at the end...but just because God said DO IT!