19:1—“Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done. . . .” Tattle-tale! I don’t think Ahab was the strong one in his marriage.
19:3—“Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.” Our Elijah? The guy we’ve been reading about? No way!
19:4—“Elijah prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, LORD,’ he said. ‘Take my life.’” What happened to our fearless prophet? I bet you’ve been there. I certainly have been. Elijah was exhausted. His mountain-top experience with God, followed by a marathon run, took every ounce of energy Elijah had. He was ready to give up, but I am so thankful God did not give up on Elijah. God gave Elijah a 40-day vacation. Then He called him back into action.
Have you ever done a study on all the 40-day stories in the Bible? Noah’s 40-days and nights in the flood, the Israelites wandering for 40 years, Moses’ 40 days and nights on Mt. Sinai, the spies in Canaan exploring for 40 days, Goliath challenged Israel every morning and evening for 40 days, Elijah and Jesus both spent 40 days in the wilderness. There are also a handful of kings who reigned 40 years, and God punished Israel for 40 years in other stories besides the Moses story. The pattern of 40 typically indicates a time of testing for God’s people, and after the testing, God shows up. Has God taken you through any 40-day experiences? I just celebrated my 40th birthday! The possibility of God doing something miraculous in my life is terribly exciting!
In verses 9-10 and 13-14, God and Elijah have the same conversation twice. “What are you doing here, Elijah?” “Poor me. I’m the only one left!” Elijah was having a major pity party, but God was not going to let him stay there in the cave of despair. Did you notice that Elijah readily recognized God’s voice? Elijah had spent plenty of time alone with his LORD, and he knew exactly what God sounded like. Can you hear God’s gentle whisper in your life? I must admit that my mind is in such a whirlwind most of the time that it drowns out what God is trying to tell me. I think that is why I am enjoying my Bible study blog so much. It lets me get alone with God, and He speaks to me through His Word, and the Holy Spirit talks to me as I write. I remind myself that whether or not anyone responds to the blog, my main goal is to sit at the feet of Jesus and to glorify His Name.
19:15—“Go back the way you came . . . .” I hate retracing my steps. It usually means I lost or forgot something. What was God’s purpose in having Elijah go back the way he came? Did he lose his faith along the journey? Did he forget his passion for communicating God’s Word to the people? Retracing our steps in our walk with God reminds us of His faithfulness in carrying us through the hard stuff of life. I encourage you to draw a timeline and let yourself remember all the times God has intervened on your behalf. How has He used you to minister to others? When has He shown up to you? Ask Him to do it again!
Elijah feels alone, but God reminds him he is not alone. God has preserved 7000 other faithful believers, and God tells Elijah to commission others to help him lead the fight against evil. Elijah is to anoint Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha. Do you want to feel like you are making a difference in God’s kingdom? Then become a mentor to someone. Pass on your faith to the next generation of leaders. The enemy is so good at isolating us and telling us we know nothing about God. The way to prove him wrong is to pour your life into someone else. Elijah became Elisha’s mentor, and what a powerful duo they were! Will you pray today about who you could mentor? Ask God to bring someone to mind, and then be obedient to approach that person and invite them to study the Bible with you. If you need ideas, please email me at tydyd_89@yahoo.com.
Verses 19-21 tell the story of Elisha’s call. Only three short verses. Have you written your testimony of answering God’s call on your life? Will you post it on the blog? I would love to hear your story!!! What I love about Elisha’s response is that he completely destroyed his oxen and his plowing equipment. There was no turning back. Wow! That challenges me.
Looking forward to your responses!
Love ya! Dana
I get a weekly women's study from Lifeway and it will take a little space but the message of mentoring was this weeks focus. God is speaking to me about our youth and I hope that he is speaking to others also to step out of their comfort zone and reach out to younger men and women. Here is the study:
ReplyDeleteMentoring Women - Passing the Torch
Selections from Titus 2
Older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not addicted to much wine. They are to teach what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and children, to be sensible, pure, good homemakers, and submissive to their husbands, so that God's message will not be slandered. For the grace of God has appeared, with salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Why should today's young people have to learn their lessons the hard way, when we've already walked so many of the same pathways, felt so many of the same pressures, seen so many of the Lord's promises come true? So many of them need us so much.
Few of us really think we have a lot to say to others. Our lives because they're ours, the only eyes we've ever looked through can seem quite ordinary, uneventful, unimportant. But we have something we can share things no one else has seen quite the way we've seen them. Even our fears and failures even the ones we struggle with at this very moment are object lessons that have much to teach, to reveal, to inspire. We can't do everything, but can we do anything more valuable than invest ourselves in another?
Look At It This Way ...
My dear Mom Cunningham schooled me not in a class or seminar, or even primarily by her words. It was what she was that taught me. It was her availability to God. It was the surrender of her time. It was her readiness to get involved, to lay down her life for one anxious Bible school girl. Above all, she herself, a simple Scottish woman, was the message.
Think of the vast number of older women today. We live longer now than we did forty years ago. There is more mobility, more money around, more leisure, more health and strength resources which, if put at God's disposal, might bless younger women. But there are also many more ways to spend those resources, so we find it very easy to occupy ourselves selfishly. Where are the women, single or married, willing to hear God's call to spiritual motherhood, taking spiritual daughters under their wings to school them as Mom Cunningham did me? She had no training the world would recognize. She simply loved God and was willing to be broken bread and poured-out wine for his sake. Retirement never crossed her mind. - Elisabeth Elliot
A Final Thought:
Can you imagine what would happen if each of us found some teenagers in our churches, schools, or neighborhoods, and began opening our hearts to them in godly discipleship?
Thank you for sharing, Melinda! We never know if the person God gives us to mentor will become the next Elisabeth Elliot! I'm sure that Mom Cunningham never dreamed that the few hours she poured into a young college girl would reap such a tremendous harvest.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad God is in the multiplication business!