The picture you see is a good ol' Sunday school poster of Elijah on Mount Carmel. I actually looked for a classic Byzantine or Renaissance-era painting because I think those Biblical renderings are beautiful. But, I grew weary of Googling so I went with the classic VBS art.
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A few weeks ago, mom gave me a CD sermon that she really wanted me to hear. It was delivered by Tim Miller so I was anxious to hear it but sitting down for thirty minutes to listen to anything is difficult these days. She kept prodding me, and I kept promising I would listen to it. I finally got around to it on Saturday. The sermon is titled Hitting the Wall. It's a really good sermon so I'll share some of the points with you good people.
1 Kings 17-19 tells the story of Elijah and his dealings with Ahab and Jezebel. If you ever want to know the wrong way to govern a nation, just read the accounts of Ahab. And if you ever want to know what happens when you choose the wrong mate, keep reading.
The Bible says (1 Kings 17) that Ahab did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. That's a whole bunch of evil. Here's a good lesson on how the actions of a leader who influences his people can bring judgment. That's another post. So God's prophet, Elijah, went and told the king that there would be a drought. Droughts were a big deal back then. God looks out for Elijah and his safety and tells him to r-u-n-n-o-f-t. He goes away, God has the ravens feed him, tells him to drink from a brook, but, drinking from a brook during a drought is not going to end up well. So God tells him to go somewhere else. He goes to a widow's house, stays there awhile, keeps her family fed in a very loaves-and-fishes kind of way, and raises her son from the dead. Busy guy, Elijah. Then God tells him to go and see Ahab, who wants Elijah dead.
Elijah goes to the king, sets up a battle royale with the pagan priests and scores a knockout. God is God and all is well. Until Jezebel gets involved and promises to kill him. So off he goes again, but this time he ends up on Mount Horeb with God.
Read the whole story for yourself but here's a point from Reverend Miller. The duel with the prophets of Baal was simple: make fire. Baal couldn't do it and Elijah starts talking smack, which is actually hilarious. He tells them to call out louder. Maybe Baal is on vacation, maybe he's asleep, maybe he's in the crapper. I'm not kidding.
But the point is, "False gods promise what only the true God provides." This made me think about how many times I've followed the promises that weren't from God. In hindsight, I can recall several times when something came my way that was just what I wanted it to be. My response is usually reasoning out how this is just what I needed. This will solve everything, all my disappointments will be wiped away. Funny thing, hindsight. God has promised to meet my needs and bless me in His way and in His time. All I have to do is follow.
Okay, real quick cause this is getting lengthy. Elijah calls the people together at Mt. Carmel and asks a question that hits home. He says, "How long will you go limping between two different opinions?" So, how long? God or other gods? God or against God? No one can serve two masters.
Well, this got long, huh? I just really heard alot in this sermon that I think we all need to hear right now.
Toodles.
