16:29-18:16 - Things were
getting desperate: ‘Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of
Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him’ (33).
What did God do about this? How did He respond to this situation? God
sent His prophet, a man who would stand up for God against Ahab. ‘When
the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift
up a standard against him’ (Isaiah 59:19). Where did Elijah come from?
He came from God! All we know about Elijah’s early life is expressed in
the words: ‘Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead’. There is
something else we know about him. He was a man of God. He was a man with
a message, a man who spoke in the Name of the Lord the God of Israel’
(17:1). Things happened when Elijah was around. This was the Spirit of
God at work - in power!
18:17-19:21 - Life is full of ups
and downs. For Elijah, there was a very high point. He prayed. ‘The
fire of the Lord fell’. ‘All the people said, ‘The Lord, He is God’’ (37-39). This was followed by a very low point: ‘O
Lord, take away my life’ (4). We are so changeable. Often, we feel like
we are being torn apart. Our emotions pull us in different directions.
Sometimes, we are full of joy. At other times, we are at the point of
despair. We find ourselves in a turmoil of confused emotions. What are
we to do? Are we to ‘pull ourselves together’? This seems to be the very
thing we can’t manage to do. Are we to ‘hope for the best’ - ‘Some day,
some way, things will get better’? We think about this, and we wonder,
‘What happens if things get worse?’! Look to the Lord. His love is unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable.
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