by Vicki Dowell

Are you THAT Elijah?

1 Kings 17 and 18.

Who was Elijah? He was one of the most outstanding prophets in the Old Testament. He was the one who was whisked away in a chariot of fire. He heard and obeyed God. Elijah was the one people sought out to hear the word of the Lord in his day.

King Ahab meets Elijah in 1 Kings 17. Elijah informs Ahab that there shall not be dew or rain these years according to his word. Pretty bold declaration. So in Ahab’s eyes Elijah was the one who brought trouble and drought upon them. I find it quite interesting that as soon as Elijah made this bold declaration to Ahab that God told Elijah to get up, get out and go hide. What? Bold man of God, God says go hide? We’ll discuss this later.

How was Elijah able to hear God? He KNEW God, he communicated with God, listened to God and obeyed God. Can we be like Elijah? Of course. God is no respecter of persons. But there are things we must do and ways we are to use our faith to help us. We must be faithful to do what God has already told us. His word is full of instruction and guidance and we have the Holy Spirit to help us. We must be patient and long suffering in patience. God’s timing is not ours but it is always perfect. We must get the timing right.

Let’s look at this timing thing for just a moment. In 1 Kings 17:3, God tells Elijah to go hide. We might think that after making such a bold declaration of drought that Elijah would take a stand and stay there. But God told him to “get thee hence.” I take that as God said RUN! Now if we didn’t know God’s voice we might continue to stand there remembering all the times God said to be bold and courageous. But in this instance God said run, hide. I wonder, what would have happened to Elijah had he not heard and obeyed God at that very moment?

We must realize that God may not answer our prayer immediately and our circumstances may be discouraging while we’re waiting on God’s answer. But in the waiting we can be bold and courageous. We can face our adversary without fear. We can believe for the impossible. And when we know God has answered we must GET OUT OF THE WAY! But KEEP PRAYING. When God told Elijah it would rain, he went to the mountaintop, knelt down and continued to pray until the cloud came. He prayed believing God’s word and with expectation. He sent his servant seven times to look for the cloud until it came.

1 Kings 18:1 – “After many days”. Ah, now is the time to go face Ahab. NOW Elijah was told to go, face the king and don’t back down. But on his way he meets Oadiah who was sent out by the king to look for water. (1 Kings 18:1-7) The drought was very severe. Obadiah falls on his face and said, “are you my lord, Elijah?” Are you THAT Elijah? You see, Obadiah was a God fearing man and knew that Elijah had the word of the Lord.

Your prayers don’t have to be long or super spiritual. In 1 Kings 18:36-37, in just sixty-three words Elijah called down fire from heaven that consumed the sacrifice and all the water around the altar proving that the God of heaven is the one true God. Read 1 Kings 17 – 18 for yourself. For now I leave you with just one question. Are you THAT Elijah? Are you that (fill in your name) that God can use, that people can come to in order to hear about God? You can be. Do you want it?

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