1 Kings 19:3 ( NKJV )
And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
(We were blessed to have Pastors Phil and Gina Crandall from Blue Ridge Chapel in Rocky Mount Virginia with us this week. Here are some thoughts on their ministry.)
Yesterday we learned that when Elijah heard Jezebel’s threat he focused on it until he finally believed a lie. The lie was not necessarily part of the threat itself. The threat triggered his own weak tendencies. He believed he was alone in serving God. When we are in the midst of a faith battle we need to be careful that we do not believe the lie of the devil. He will press us until whatever area is weak in our lives is exposed. The end result is that we will give in to the pressure, stop believing God and quit.
Elijah could have and should have responded to Jezebels threats by reminding himself of the great victory he had just won. He could have considered the greatness of God instead of the power of the enemy. When we are under pressure, that is what we must do. There is always something you can thank God for.
I want to point out another pattern that we tend to follow when our faith is under attack. In verse 3 of this chapter it says that Elijah fled to Beersheba which is in Judah. Judah is where Elijah had spent the three years after he went to the King of Israel and told him it would not rain. Judah was the southern kingdom in Israel and it was a safe place. When we are under pressure we will tend to find a safe place and go back there. Faith, however, will lead us forward. We will encounter battles but we will win victories. The comfort zone we tend to fall back to usually will result in stagnation.
In my life I have often stepped out in faith and taken risks that seemed extreme unless I knew that God was with me. I have seen God do wonderful things. When it was time for our church to own a building we stepped out in faith and bought a property that needed renovation. The circumstances were such that we actually started working on the building before we had a contract closed. This was a risk. We could have lost everything. I knew it was God, however, and we ended up owning the building and property with very little debt.
A few years ago I knew God was telling us to expand. We did not really need to expand in terms of how many people we had, but God said to do it. When it came time to begin we had very little money. I admit that it took me a while to get up the courage to go forward. We were comfortable. I didn’t really want to go through the process of standing by faith, pressing in to believe for the finances and doing the work. The longer I delayed the more I knew we needed to go forward. We were comfortable, but we were stagnant.
Finally I took the plunge. We had no money, but I made the decision to start two weeks from that time. I broke ground for our new addition with no hope of going any farther than the first shovel of dirt. By the time the date to begin came upon us we had the money to put up the shell and enclose it. God is faithful.
We have been working a long time and are close to being finished. It has required a continual press of faith. We have had to raise money and put in labor, but we will soon be done and we will have no debt whatsoever. Many times I have considered borrowing to finish because it would be easier, but God and the people doing the work have said no. They encouraged me to press on to the end with the testimony that in a weak economy God was able to provide for the whole addition with no debt.
There is a time to rest and there is a time to go forward. Faith is often uncomfortable. When the pressure is brought to bear by the enemy you will be tempted to run to a place where you were safe and comfortable. If the enemy can’t destroy you he is content to take you out of the fight. Don’t let him! We are in a war both corporately and individually. We must continue to go forward. We must continue to stretch our faith and trust that God will bring us through. That is the only way we can win.
Leave a Reply