“But let all who take
refuge in You be glad, Let them ever sing for joy; And may You shelter them,
That those who love Your name may exult in You. For it is You who blesses
the righteous man, O Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield.”(Ps. 5:11-12).
Hey Gang: I love
to read about the salty, tough hombres of the Old Testament that God used in
mighty ways. None of them would have made the fortune 500 ‘man of the
year’ according to worldly standards but they had the power of God to move
mountains. Elijah, one of my favorites of the God’s Prophet Hall of Fame,
was one tough hombre.
A study was made
recently of what is the toughest sport to compete in. The marathon won
hands down. It was agreed that running 26 miles placed the greatest
strain on the total body. But notice after Elijah slew the 450 prophets
of Baal, “the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he girded up his
loins and outran Ahab to Jezreel” a distance of more than 70 miles!
Keep in mind that Ahab was driving a chariot with one of the finer horse teams
of his kingdom doing the lugging.
As a lad, wet behind
the ears, I loved to run. I believe I would have been a very good cross
country runner. I certainly had the credentials to be a good runner, I
was skinny as a rail and very hyper; but we were too far from the training
grounds and did not have the finances to support lugging a kid around to
participate in the twenty plus meets.
Take note that Elijah
had a very powerful resume: By God’s power he stopped the rain in all of Israel
for their disobedience, he provided oil and flour for the widow Zarephath and
her son, he confronted the prophets of Baal and seen God’s mighty fires from
the heavenlies that totally consumed the sacrifice, altar and many gallons of
water, and then outran King Ahab’s chariot for more than seventy
miles. Would that not give you faith to move mountains?
But, Ahab shared the
events of the day with Jezebel who sent a message to Elijah: “So may the
god’s do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of
one of them by tomorrow." (!
Kings 19:1).
Did Elijah boldly
stand against her threats knowing God would protect him? Not so! he cut
and ran a day’s journey into the wilderness and sat down under a juniper tree
and asked God to take his life!
Now, before you begin
to rag on Elijah, keep in mind it is not wise to throw stones in glass
houses. Do we not do the same? We make choices each and every
day as to whether we will stand on the Rock- against the darts of the enemy or
seek out a Juniper tree and try and hide. What say ye?
The apostle James
wrote that Elijah was a man 'subject to like passions as we are"
(James 5:17). Really, Lord! But Lord, Elijah had an angel
controlling his travel plans, a day planner and a food program provided by
ravens! I wonder if Elijah was waiting for another fire from heaven answer to
his problem?
We love to read the
wondrous stories of God's intervention like the parting of the Sea and the
destruction of the prophets of Baal, but how many know that is not the normal
modus operandi for our God in the control room.
Soooo, fellow warriors
let me close this for today and pick it up in the next morning message.
Keep in mind that the people used by God in the Bible in a mighty way were mere
human beings that put their pants on one leg at a time. We do not have to
be a Peter or Paul to make an impact for the Lord, but we do need to be
obedient and respond to His call.
Blessings,
Gramps
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