December 19, 2019
Obedience is a strange word. You practice it, or you don’t. People who keep God’s commandments and stay faithful to Jesus experience the victory of Mt. Carmel and those that are disobedient, suffer the Mt. Carmel defeat.
1 Kings 17:1 – 1
- God sent a man on a mission, and the man didn’t want to go.
- God sent him to confront someone he didn’t want to meet.
- God sent him to deliver a message, the man didn’t want to give.
God sent the desert prophet, Elijah to confront King Ahab. Scripture says of Ahab, “And Ahab, the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him.” (1 Kings 16:30)
The message was there would be a devastating drought—no rain at any time anywhere— for several years to prove the impotence of the god Bael to provide.
3 – 6
- God put the man in a place he didn’t wish to be.
- God provided the man with food and water the man did not want.
After delivering God’s message, Elijah was commanded to leave and hide by the brook Cherith. “And the Ravens [unclean birds] brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.” (vs. 6).
From this solitary spot and humble circumstances, God would later show Elijah there has to be a brook Cherith before there‘s a Mt Carmel.
8 – 21
- God spoke again and sent the man on another mission he did not want.
- God commanded the man to do something he did not want to do.
“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” (vs.9) Elijah knew widows were the poorest of people; how could she provide for him?
God sent Elijah to this small seaside town to the heart of Baal worship. This town was the home territory of Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, and queen.
God used the man to show His power, power the man didn’t have.
“See, your son lives.” And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” (vs. 24)
Though we are not prophets, we are God’s messengers. He sends us on missions to places we don’t want to go, to meet someone we don’t want to meet. God’s message may not be the one we want to share. Sometimes, God puts us in a place we don’t want to be and provides for us in a way we don’t like.
If we are obedient, God uses our weakness to demonstrate His power!