ICS Daily Devotions
Crests and Troughs
It was a PK like no other! Gamers would be quite familiar with the term ‘player kill’ which is now widely used to mean a face-off where one side would demolish the competition. And demolish the competition Elijah did! He challenged the prophets of Baal to a showdown. Each camp had to prepare a sacrifice on their altar; they were to call on their gods and Elijah would call on Yahweh. And whoever answers by fire must be acknowledged as the true God. We know the rest of the story, God showed up and Elijah had all 450 prophets of Baal slaughtered.
1 Kings 19:1-3a (NKJV) And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life…
Who would have thought that Elijah, the mighty man of God, would slip into despair shortly after such an astounding victory?! And he didn’t only triumph over the prophets of Baal, Elijah also through intercession dramatically witnessed God sending rain to end a prolonged period of drought. And right after that, he outran Ahab’s chariot! Crest upon crest of God’s power on display, and yet Elijah arose and ran for his life instead. What happened?
Fear.
Fear gripped Elijah to the exclusion of all else. He took his eyes off God, looked at the imminent threat, and lost sight of Who he served. He plunged into a trough of despair so deep that he wanted to die. Here we need to listen up and listen well, there is a valuable lesson to be learnt: if it can happen to Elijah, it can happen to any one of us. Life happens and we all have to deal with challenging situations sometimes, whether arising from work, relationships, or something else. And they may seem insurmountable. ‘Seem’ being the operative word. When we are at the centre of a tempest, it’s easy to believe that there is no way out. However, Jesus is Emmanuel―‘God With Us’―and He has promised that He will always be with us.
Let us remain steadfast in our faith, take hold of the power that is available to us, and turn and fix our eyes upon Jesus. Then the things of this world will truly grow strangely dim. Even the perils and the fear.
2 Tim 1:7 (NKJV) For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Sermon Series: From Despair to a New Assignment
