Sometimes pastors don’t want to say “No” to someone in their congregation because they don’t want to hurt them. Sometimes pastors don’t confront someone in their sinful choices because it seems “mean spirited” to do so.
David Wilkerson
Love must be tough. Love sometimes inflicts pain.
“Love inflicts pain, even as it does no harm (Romans 13:10). True love repeatedly disappoints, hurts, confronts, refuses, and disciplines. This is certainly how God has loved us, and we should not expect to love others without hurting them. Love hurts but does not harm. God’s minister bears the sword, but not in vain (v. 4) and with the hope that long-term health will come from short-term faithful wounds.” —Dick Brogden
“Elijah’s hatred for the sins of Israel sprang out of his very strong love for God’s people. He was not a people hater, only a sin hater. He was not a man of revenge, but rather a man whose heart yearned for Israel’s return to the Lord.” —David Wilkerson
When he ran in fear, he became completely exhausted to the point where he became depressed and suicidal. When he ran in God’s power, there was no tiredness.
When he ran in fear, he forgot God and focused totally on his own needs. When he ran in God’s power, only God was exalted.
So how are you running today? Are you running in fear of disappointing someone … dropping the ball … losing the job … falling short … losing face?
Or are you running in God’s power … doing the things that draw you closer to Him … running to bring others to Christ … exalting God?
You will be running this week. The bigger question is how are you doing it?
Sometimes when you read about an incredible prophet like Elijah, don’t you think, “I wish God would use me like that?” I mean, why not? Was there something different about him? Even James said in the New Testament that Elijah was “just as human as we are.”
So why could use God use him so powerfully? Why not me?
I think the key is in how quickly Elijah responded when God spoke. Check this out:
Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah…. So he did what the Lord had told him.
Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath….” So he went to Zarephath.
The word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go present yourself to Ahab….” So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
See the pattern? God speaks, and in the very next verse, Elijah acts.
No delays.
No excuses.
No planning.
No extra prayer.
No companions.
Just obedience.
The next time you read your Bible and you hear the word of the Lord speak, act on it immediately.
The next time your pastor speaks the word of the Lord to you on Sunday, put it into action on Monday.
As James also said, let’s not just be hearers of the word of the Lord, let’s be immediate doers of the word.
Do it quickly and watch God begin to work through your life powerfully.
Yesterday I talked about how to defeat depression in our personal lives. Maybe you’re not battling depression yourself, but since anti-depressants are one of the most prescribed medications, there’s a good chance that someone you know is dealing with depression. Beyond medicine or counseling, one of the greatest antidotes for depression is a friend: an intrusive friend.
In 1 Kings 19 when Elijah was running scared and slipping into depression, there is an important verse at the beginning of the story—Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there (v. 3).
One of our most natural reactions when we’re battling depression is to withdraw from others. It’s natural to want to be alone, but it is one of the worst things to do. Throughout Scripture, powerful people became vulnerable to attack when they left their friends behind—Samson, David, and Peter are prime examples. Even Jesus was tempted by the devil when He was alone in the wilderness.
So if it’s natural to want to be alone when depression is raining on our souls, a true friend will have to be an intrusive friend … a tenacious friend … a persistent friend. I love the lines in the Toby Mac song “Face Of The Earth” that say—
Now Hope Road is calling
Let’s pack you up and move ‘Cause real friends are willing to intrude So I’m gonna push you in because I wanna love you well Let the ghosts of your past rest
If you have a friend who is starting to become distant, dropping out of activities, or spending more time alone, these may be the warning signs of depression. Don’t let him be like Elijah and leave you behind, but love him or her enough to intrude in his or her life. Your encouragement just may be the best anti-depressant he/she will ever receive.
So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it. (1 Thessalonians 5:11, The Message)
Jonathanwent to find Davidandencouraged him to stay strong in his faith in God. (1 Samuel 23:16, New Living Translation)
In 1 Kings 19, Elijah hears that Queen Jezebel wants to kill him, so he “ran for his life.” Just four verses earlier Elijah “ran in the power of the Lord” (18:46) but now he is running scared. After 42 days of despondent wandering, Elijah ends up in a cave and God asks Elijah, “Why are you here?” (v. 9).
Elijah’s answer seems unresponsive. He tells God—as though He didn’t already know!—all about the spiritual conditions in Israel, but he never really answers the “why” question. God reveals Himself to Elijah more intimately (as “a gentle whisper”) and asks him again, “Why are you here?” Elijah gives the same, word-for-word answer.
During difficult times—when my “enemies” seem too numerous to count or too big to defeat—the eyes of my soul become cloudy. It becomes harder to look out and so I naturally tend to look inward. As a result, I become the center of my entire universe: “Now they are trying to kill me!”
In Psalms 42 and 43, the psalmist is clearly depressed. Look at his inward, me-focused questions—
When can I go and meet with God? (42:2)
My enemies continually taunt me, saying, “Where is this God of yours?” (42:3)
Why are you so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? (42:5, 11; 43:5)
Why have You forgotten me? (42:9)
Why have You rejected me? (43:2)
Just as God’s question to Elijah was supposed to get him to look outward, the psalmist does begin to turn his gaze from himself. But notice how he does it—
My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember You (42:6)
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God (42:11; 43:5)
When I’m battling depression, it takes an act of my will to praise God, to look outward and upward. Feelings follow actions. I don’t feel like praising Him because my problems feel so overwhelming, but when I will to praise Him, the feelings will follow.
Look how David did it—
I will extol the LORD at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together. (Psalm 34:1-3)
My friend, if you are depressed—if you have become inward-focused—only an act of your will can lift you out of this funk.
Use your willpower to act—look out, look up, praise God—and the cloud over your soul will begin to lift!
I was reading the well-known story of the prophet Elijah this morning, while still thinking about a life in limbo. Elijah has the audacity to say to the king of Israel, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, Whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1).
That’s it. We just sort of jump right into this story. We don’t read about God instructing Elijah to say this to King Ahab. And more importantly, we don’t see God saying, “Elijah, even though the land will go through a severe drought, here’s how I’m going to take care of you.” Elijah’s life was in limbo. But I’m struck by God’s ahead-of-time provision for Elijah.
At the time of this story, the land of Israel is now under its sixth evil king; each one getting more and more sinful than the one before him. The current king, Ahab is called the most evil of all the kings yet. Israel had lived under sinful kings—which the Bible says were causing all of the people to sin, too—for over 70 years! Yet at least one family still faithfully clung to their belief in Yahweh, the true God. These parents named their son Elijah, which means “Yahweh is the one true God.” Although it might have seemed everyone was sinning and turning their back on God, at least one set of parents raised their son in a counter-cultural way, at least one set of parents trained their son to rely only on God, at least one set of parents equipped their son to stand firm in the face of overwhelming evil.
The ahead-of-time God provided God-fearing parents for Elijah to train him to fear God too.
As the famine began, God directed Elijah to a brook that continued to flow. This was also the place ravens would bring him food.
The ahead-of-time God provided food and water for Elijah.
The drought eventually dried up the brook that Elijah was using for water, and the ravens eventually stopped coming to that dried-up creek bed with food. So God sent Elijah to a widow in Zarephath with this promise, “I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food” (1 Kings 17:9). After Elijah entered this widow’s home, her supply of oil and flour never ran out throughout the entire three years of drought, giving all of them food to eat.
The ahead-of-time God provided oil and flour for a widow so that she could make food for Elijah.
My life may be in limbo, but I am confident that my ahead-of-time God has already provided for me. You and I have this promise: “And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
This story is in the Bible to reassure you and me that God supplies for us.
Craig T. Owens 