Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Undeterred - A Special Message for a New Fiscal Year

Discouragement and anxiety are vices that are recurring warts in the lives of even the most seasoned believers. These problems have the potential of stealing our focus from where it should be and can land us in a bad situation. Such was the case when I came to the end of my senior year of undergraduate training. Although God had allowed me to experiences every level of success I could have hoped for and then some, the uncertain future gnawed away at my confidence, brought me to tears, and kept me up many nights as I wondered where I would work, what I would do, and If what that was would even really matter. As irrational as this sounds, similar feelings often plague our minds at some point or another. Elijah faced a similar and more acute case of this syndrome in 1 Kings 19:1-4. Today we are going to make THREE OBSERVATIONS of Elijah’s struggle and hopefully learn how we can keep our wits about us when the winds of discouragement begin to blow. People are grieving, men are suffering as no one would wish on their worst enemy, people we love to fellowship with are missing, but God has a message for us today and it is all to do with His provision to get us through it.


I. OBSERVATION #1: The Problem is Presented-19:1-2

In the passage leading up to 1 Kings 19, a competition took place between God and Baal on Mt. Carmel. Following an embarrassing display by team Baal and their priests and a healthy dose of heckling on Elijah’s part, when it was Yahweh’s turn to show His stuff, He did not        disappoint and totally consumed a drenched altar with fire that came down from the sky. After God reigned victorious, the prophets of Baal were captured and slain alongside a riverbank. This was the post-game report that Ahab (a wicked ruler) relayed to Jezebel (an embarrassed an even more wicked woman). This was not something she wanted to see on the prime time news highlights. This was not the victory she was hoping for. How embarrassing for her and the gods she worshipped and required of her people to worship!

Ever meet one of those sports fans that simply cannot accept defeat. You know those guys or even girls who love their team so much that even when they lose big, they find some way to explain that defeat away, thus instilling a false sense of pride in them concerning their losing team?  This was Jezebel’s sentiment here, “…So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, ‘may the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make you lifelike that of one of them…” (19:2). Although her gods had been exposed as total and complete frauds, she simply cannot accept it and swears by them that she is going to kill Elijah. Perhaps she waits twenty four hours to do so because few would be willing to go against the guy who was able to call down fire from heaven right away. Perhaps she was just blowing off steam and reacting the only way she knew how. Whatever the reason, she gets under Elijah’s skin.

Herein lies the problem. Though Elijah had just experienced a great victory, a dark cloud of discouragement soon followed in the form of this threat, spoiling the joy God had brought about in this prophet’s life. This same situation is often experienced by saints today, who, after reaching a mountaintop with God’s help, are then knocked off that pedestal by something relatively small and yet altogether defeating. As in Elijah’s situation, joy in the Lord is so often robbed from us when we in our fragile humanity stare down new threats at the hands of this world.

II. OBSERVATION #2: The Prophet is Petrified-19:3-5

Ever been there? God brings an incredible victory your way and it is followed by a threat to your livelihood that seems to just cut your legs out from under you? Elijah was there and in a moment of spiritual weakness, despite the victory that had immediately preceded this threat, he flees the scene and is completely petrified in fear of this powerful woman, “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life” (19:3). The event that he had hoped would finally settle the score between Baal and Yahweh, an event that showcased God’s almighty power, did not silence Jezebel nor did it keep her from defying Yahweh and swearing by other Gods.

As an obnoxious fan who even after losing the championship game cannot accept defeat, Jezebels persistence keeps this false God alive in the minds of her people and continues its memory.
Rather than remember all that God had been teaching him for the past 3 years as a prophet, Elijah quickly forgets God’s hand of provision and puts a visor on, keeping him from maintaining a proper perspective (cutting off his vertical perspective and delimiting his gaze horizontally). Fear and discouragement are improper responses to even the most troubling of problems, even those that are life-threatening. They reveal an exaltation of the situational circumstance rather than an undying love and devotion to an all-powerful God.

So where did Elijah run? He ran for his life all the way to Beersheba, 95 miles south of Jezreel on the southern tip of Judah, “…When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die…” (19:4a). Desiring to go the rest of the way alone, the prophet relieved his servant after the three days journey. Either the lad was too exhausted to go any farther or Elijah was so discouraged that he no longer wanted any company.  Elijah also understood that there was no reason why his faithful servant should be subjected to the uncertainties of the desert to which he now subjected himself.

When he could walk no further, he curled up underneath a juniper tree to die. There he sat at the conclusion of his journey. Exhausted physically, depressed psychologically, isolated relationally, and despondent spiritually. These characteristics even drove him to suicidal ideation.

He communicates his discouragement by saying, “God, I’m at the end of my rope, take me now, I am a disappointment,” “I have had enough, LORD,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’ Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep’” (19:4b-5a). It does not take much in Elijah’s life to get his mind off of God and His glory and put all his attention on his circumstances or present condition. Notice where this brings him…to a point of desperation and depression. He says in this short plea that his circumstances are beyond his ability and that his life has ended in failure. However, he failed to realize, as is seen all throughout Scripture, that nothing is beyond God’s ability (He had, in fact, called down fire from heaven hadn’t He?) and that when God’s will is accomplished, there is no failure.

Elijah’s literal wilderness experience is not unlike what many experience in our world figuratively. Something threatens our joy or our very lives and we immediately run away in fear. In our running away, we separate ourselves from fellowship with others, and ultimately, if unchecked, we separate ourselves from fellowship with God Himself! This leaves us in a spiritual wilderness that can lead us toward personal destruction. Moments of victory and great celebration can so easily be cut short by anxiety in the face of this world and its perceived threats. These threats give way to discouragement and then self-defeating remarks toward one’s ability. Perhaps it is similar for you. The doctor after performing a successful surgery some weeks later tells you there is an unforeseen complication. Shortly after your loved one get over their battle with illness, you are thrust upon the operating table. Or while your family continues to prosper and grow, you can’t seem to enjoy it because of all the pain and suffering experienced by those around you. Or perhaps, effort is made to tell people about the Lord and invite them to church and yet the body does not grow. You like Elijah say, “I’ve had enough!” “Get me out of this situation!” This is the destination for all of us when we become consumed with our problems, our difficulties, ourselves, or our strength, rather than God, His unique ability, and His subsequent glory.

So, what is supposed to pry Elijah out of this rut? What hope does God give us in these ruts we face?

III. OBSERVATION #3: The Provision is Provided-19:5b-9

In the darkest moment of Elijah’s life, God intervenes (even though Elijah did everything he could to die instead of trust in the Lord). However, the way in which God intervenes demonstrates His desire to teach Elijah an important lesson. Rather than immediately eliminate his suffering and massage his self-confidence, God gives him a simple and concise command to follow, thereby testing Elijah’s faith and heart. God in this moment proves that while He is able to relieve suffering and save from despair, He will more than likely take His people through it, teaching them important lessons along the way. Asleep beneath the tree, God, through an angel, wakes him and calls him to eat a meal, “All at once an angel touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat’…” (19:5b).

“…He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again…” (19:6). In simple obedience, Elijah sees this miraculous provision and obeys, trusting God to lead Him the next step of the way when necessary. It is important to understand that although he desired much more than a meal, Elijah is faithful to God’s small command. In essence, like a good coach, God is drilling Elijah with small and simple tasks in order to get His prophet back in the game. Slowly but surely, we see Elijah less concerned about the queen’s threat, the future of his ministry, or the past success of the event on Mount Carmel, and more and more we see him focusing on God in real time, seeking Him and trusting Him once again for his most basic needs.

With drill one completed, the Coach asks him to run the same task a second time “…then the angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you’…” (19:7). Through this exercise, Elijah is relearning how to hand his life over to the Lord, only this time, he is learning this in the midst of a real threat while anticipating a long and arduous journey. In this second text, the angel discloses a discreet message concerning what lies ahead. The journey ahead is too much for Elijah, it always would be.

The same is true in our lives. What you are going through now or ever will go through is too big for you to handle without the intervention of the LORD. Just as Elijah, hungry and exhausted, relied on the food provided for by the Lord, we too whether we realize it or not are just as dependent on the Lord for everything.

“…So he got up and ate and drank…” (19:8a). Elijah obeys a second time, slowly mastering the technique of faith and trust that the coach is drilling into him. No hesitation, no questions, no problems, Elijah, having forgotten God before, is now stepping up to the plate and obeying His every call.

God provided for Elijah’s essential need, and because of this, he was strengthened, “…Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night…” (19:8b). He was strengthened enough for the next leg of the journey. When he prayed for his problems to cease (asking for God to kill him) Elijah was answered with enough strength to continue the next step of the journey. The important thing to realize here is this, although the alleviation of our existential problems may or may not be in God’s will, strength to do what God has called one to do in spite of these problems is always in His plan.
Although we pray for people to be saved from this or that struggle, a prayer that is more near to the spoken will of God would be for strength to get through the trial they are facing. This sort of prayer is possible when God is the focus rather than ourselves or our circumstances. It is up to Him!

So What?


 Are you facing a struggle today that has discouraged you or brought you to the point of desperation? Maybe you feel guilty for being  that way because you know, upon further recollection how God has blessed you in the past. Because of this, maybe you are discouraged, shaken, and emotionally drained. Perhaps as a result of your experiences, what you see, or, as it so often is in my case, what I don’t see, you have run away from those who are there to help and have even placed some distance between you and God. Today is the day to refocus your life toward God rather than your problems, yourself, your circumstance, or your own power. Elijah learned through a step by step process to trust the Lord, and maybe it is about time that you do the same. Call upon the coach to re-teach you the fundamentals of following Him and trusting Him with your life. He is a guide, He is our very present help in time of need, and He is far greater than anything you face. May we as a church, in spite of the discouragement around us, have a higher view of God than the issues, lack, and problems we face. May we, like Elijah, learn to celebrate what God has provided us in His wonderful grace, get up, and eat of His wonderful bounty so that we might be strengthened to head into the future undeterred by the threats of this world!

No comments:

Post a Comment