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The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God - Canada
The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God - Canada
Losing fire
"Elijah was afraid and ran for his life." 1 Kings 19:3
After a great display of faith and power on Mount Carmel, Elijah had
another great experience in his life. But this one I'm sure he'd rather
forget and wish that the Bible did not record.
When the fire came down on his sacrifice, all the people of Israel saw who was
the true God. The prophets of Baal were killed and the people proclaimed,
"The Lord - He is God!" Then Elijah prayed for rain to come on the land
again, after three years of drought, and the rain came down.
No doubt Elijah was feeling good about all his success. But that joy didn't last
very long. When Jezebel heard what happened to her prophets, she 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 your life like that
of one of them."
When he heard that, Elijah ran for his life and hid ... guess where? In a cave!
That's right, the great man of God, the great prophet of fire, who had just brought
fire and rain down from the heavens, was running from a woman! Elijah even prayed to die, complaining to the Lord that he'd had enough.
Truly, Elijah was a man just like us.
But the way God dealt with Elijah and his new attitude teaches us great lessons.
First lesson: Your success is determined by your position on the last lap. In car races, a driver's success is measured by his position when he crosses the finish line. It doesn't matter what happened during the race - if he was first, second or last - what really counts is where he was when the race finished. Elijah led in first place, but in the last lap he fell back to last place joining the ranks of those other prophets who hid in caves. This means that the way you finish is as important as (if not more than) the way you start. How many times have you started something very enthusiastically but "lost the fire" along the way, and then finished it all discouraged? Or maybe didn't even finish at all! If you want to overcome in life, you should only start something if you know you're prepared to go all the way to the end. As someone once said, "The race goes not always to the swift... but to those who keep on running."
Second lesson: Evil overcomes good by stubborn perseverance. We'd expect that when Jezebel heard the news about the killing of her prophets and Elijah's tremendous success on Mount Carmel she would count her losses, pack her bags and just go back to her country. But she didn't. Infuriated by what happened, Jezebel vowed to kill Elijah within 24 hours. By this we learn that good people often lose out to the wicked because they lack that stubborn perseverance that evil people have. If you know what you're doing is right, then don't be set back by bad news. Remember the first lesson - you may be last during the race but if you keep on running you could finish first. It's okay to be stubborn when you know what you're doing is right. Don't be overcome by evil, and don't let evil be more stubborn than you.
Third lesson: If you don't do it, God will have to find somebody else who will. If you read chapter 19 of 1 Kings you will see that God had to find somebody else to finish what Elijah started. "And Elisha... you shall anoint as prophet in your place." (1 Ki 20.16) This was because God saw Elijah's fire had finished and he was already "burned out." This should teach you that unless you're prepared to go all the way, someone else will take your place. Right now, God is counting on you. He wants to use you for a divine purpose. But if you keep running away and hiding in a cave, then God will have to ask you to pass your mantle to Elisha.
Another interesting fact is that Elijah was the only prophet who did not die - contrary to his own request that God take his life. Elijah did not see death. I believe God was leaving another lesson to His future servants: "Don't you ask me to die when I need you alive."
What about you - how far can you go?
Quote:
"If you want to overcome in life, you should only start something if you know you're prepared to go all the way to the end."
After a great display of faith and power on Mount Carmel, Elijah had
another great experience in his life. But this one I'm sure he'd rather
forget and wish that the Bible did not record.
When the fire came down on his sacrifice, all the people of Israel saw who was
the true God. The prophets of Baal were killed and the people proclaimed,
"The Lord - He is God!" Then Elijah prayed for rain to come on the land
again, after three years of drought, and the rain came down.
No doubt Elijah was feeling good about all his success. But that joy didn't last
very long. When Jezebel heard what happened to her prophets, she 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 your life like that
of one of them."
When he heard that, Elijah ran for his life and hid ... guess where? In a cave!
That's right, the great man of God, the great prophet of fire, who had just brought
fire and rain down from the heavens, was running from a woman! Elijah even prayed to die, complaining to the Lord that he'd had enough.
Truly, Elijah was a man just like us.
But the way God dealt with Elijah and his new attitude teaches us great lessons.
First lesson: Your success is determined by your position on the last lap. In car races, a driver's success is measured by his position when he crosses the finish line. It doesn't matter what happened during the race - if he was first, second or last - what really counts is where he was when the race finished. Elijah led in first place, but in the last lap he fell back to last place joining the ranks of those other prophets who hid in caves. This means that the way you finish is as important as (if not more than) the way you start. How many times have you started something very enthusiastically but "lost the fire" along the way, and then finished it all discouraged? Or maybe didn't even finish at all! If you want to overcome in life, you should only start something if you know you're prepared to go all the way to the end. As someone once said, "The race goes not always to the swift... but to those who keep on running."
Second lesson: Evil overcomes good by stubborn perseverance. We'd expect that when Jezebel heard the news about the killing of her prophets and Elijah's tremendous success on Mount Carmel she would count her losses, pack her bags and just go back to her country. But she didn't. Infuriated by what happened, Jezebel vowed to kill Elijah within 24 hours. By this we learn that good people often lose out to the wicked because they lack that stubborn perseverance that evil people have. If you know what you're doing is right, then don't be set back by bad news. Remember the first lesson - you may be last during the race but if you keep on running you could finish first. It's okay to be stubborn when you know what you're doing is right. Don't be overcome by evil, and don't let evil be more stubborn than you.
Third lesson: If you don't do it, God will have to find somebody else who will. If you read chapter 19 of 1 Kings you will see that God had to find somebody else to finish what Elijah started. "And Elisha... you shall anoint as prophet in your place." (1 Ki 20.16) This was because God saw Elijah's fire had finished and he was already "burned out." This should teach you that unless you're prepared to go all the way, someone else will take your place. Right now, God is counting on you. He wants to use you for a divine purpose. But if you keep running away and hiding in a cave, then God will have to ask you to pass your mantle to Elisha.
Another interesting fact is that Elijah was the only prophet who did not die - contrary to his own request that God take his life. Elijah did not see death. I believe God was leaving another lesson to His future servants: "Don't you ask me to die when I need you alive."
What about you - how far can you go?
Quote:
"If you want to overcome in life, you should only start something if you know you're prepared to go all the way to the end."
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