Depending on God

Throughout this Summer, I was given the opportunity to be a youth counselor through KMBC to go out to several different camps and minister to teens and kids alike. It’s an experience I could confidently say I wouldn’t trade for anything else. Going into it, as we were doing our training for the job, I remember my anticipation to just get started and begin doing what God had brought the opportunity for. I’ve always wanted to do counseling for teens since I myself was going to teen camp. I loved getting to meet these councilors that would come in from different colleges and just build friendships with them, I thought that they were the coolest! So being able to have that same opportunity left me anxious to get started. As we arrived at our first camp, we had already met our first challenge. We knew that we were going to have interesting challenges come into play; it’s what we trained for. But our first one was counseling a group of teens that weren’t as fluent in English or barely knew any of it. Our first group was a youth group from a Hispanic church in Iowa. So we had to figure out exactly how God was going to work this out for His plans. My counseling team and I, although a little worried, looked to God quickly from the start for strength. The first instinctive decision was to recognize that although we weren’t expecting this kind of challenge, God had brought those kids to that camp for a purpose, and we were given this task for a reason, so we had to humble ourselves to His plans and give Him control, allowing us to be vessels for Him to work. And through that, God took control! Sure we didn’t get it perfect; it was an everyday surrender to God to recognize that we cannot do a job like this by our own strength, but by Him. And through this, God came through, time and time again. We had experienced different challenges like this all through the camps we went to, and although at points it would get more difficult, God always came through. He always supplied strength where we needed it. He always showed us He still had a purpose for those He brought to each camp, even when we were burnt out, He still had grace to use us as vessels to be lights in the kids lives.

Probably once of the most common tenancies we have is that we like to be in control of the things around us, big and small. It’s habitual and natural, and it frustrates us when a situation doesn’t seem to be going how we planned for it to. Sometimes we have great experiences that quickly turn into a moment of weakness where we feel burnt out of energy, and tend to grow anxious or stressed when it feels like a situation has come out of our control. It’s human, but that’s not what God wants for us. Being burnt out leaves us in a place where we either grow desperate to take a circumstance back into our hands, which can lead to worse outcomes, or we can turn to God, and leave it in His hands, which ultimately is what God asks for us to do. Today we are going to look at 1 Kings 19:1-9. With some context before this passage, the prophet Elijah meets Ahab and challenges him to a “god-off” from what I like to call it; ultimately to see who’s god is the true god of Isreal; baal, or the Lord God. From this, Elijah challenges 400 prophets of baal to make the same altar, and call upon their god to consume their sacrifice, and whichever god does so, would be marked the one true God. This obviously concluded with the Lord God consuming Elijah’s sacrifice while leaving the prophets of baal desperately calling out to their god with no response. Israel ends up taking all the prophets and killing them, and shortly after, God sends in a mighty rainstorm to water Israel after years of drought.

1 Kings 19:1–9 ESV

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

From this passage, we see Elijah quickly come from a big win with God proving to Israel He is still their Lord, to wanting to just be dead after being threatened of his life. We can easily relate to this in the context of spiritual experiences or “mountains” we tend to have, where we feel so close to God, and that we’re on top of the world, life is full of blessing, everything is going how we wish.. to falling into a “valley” where a circumstance or number of circumstances stack upon each other, leaving us in a place of vulnerability or weakness. A place where we feel burnt out. Elijah wanted to just be done, to throw in the towel, and give up. But God had other plans. I think many can relate to this with feeling done for, until we get some feed and sleep and feel rejuvenated, but the main focus is how God strengthens Elijah in a place of weakness, supplying his where his needs are met, in order to continue on the path God had for him.

Elijah was a prophet of God. He got to experience God working miracles through him left and right, and even got to experience God proving His Lordship over Israel and denouncing the false god baal, and yet he still found himself not entirely trusting God to keep him safe after Jezabel threatened his life. Elijah’s attitude was focused on the negatives of his situation, that even though God had just given him a “mountain moment,” the valley he ended up being in was too great to show God would come through again. Yet God still had grace for Elijah. He supplied him with strength in his weakness.

Do you find yourself in a place of weakness, relying on your own ability to get you through your trial, but finding no progress?

I find myself running into these similar situations time and time and time and time again. How many mountains have I been on where I couldn’t see how a situation could get worse, and yet not to shortly after, I find myself in a valley again, running and depending on myself for strength, and finding failure from that result. Have I not seen God come through before in the past countless times? Has God not proven yet to me that He will provide in my weakness? Why do I still rely on my inability to get me through something I can’t control? Near the last few camps I counseled at, I’d go into the week with an attitude that I wouldn’t have enough energy to pour myself into more kids, because I was spiritually running low. And yet, in those places of weakness, I’d cry out to God, and not much to my surprise, God showed me each time He had a plan, not only for those teens that went to those camps, but even for me. Each time He proved to me that He had a purpose, even when I felt incapable of giving more of myself. When I found myself unable to do something beyond my control, God showed me He still had it all in His hands, and that no one was there because of me, but because He brought them there. Who am I to think that anything was going to happen through me? I faced many of these humbling moments, and yet I still to this day have not entirely depended on God to bring me through all my trials.

I’ve seen God be faithful and work miracles countless times, so when I run into challenges and trials, why do I still rely on my own strength to get me through them? The biggest lie we can believe that will ruin us is when we start thinking we can do life without God. That we can get through our trials by ourselves, that the things we struggle can be overcome by ourselves. If we don’t depend on God to carry us through a storm, then we’re going to wreck our ship again and again and again. Yes, sometimes in our trials it may seem like God doesn’t answer or hear our pleas, which can leave us to try and take matters into our own hands, or even just give up. But this is where realizing that blessing and burden are not the indicators on how near God is, or if our situation is in His hands or not. 1 Peter 5:6-10 says:

New Living Translation (Chapter 5)

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.

We have to take a 3 things into consideration in order to depend on God through our trials.

A valley is an opportunity for our faith to grow.

In James 1:2-4 James says:

New Living Translation (Chapter 1)

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

An illustration of our life was given that we automatically set up our life in a roller-coaster formation, that when our life circumstances are going up, our faith and relationship with God goes up, and when they begin to go down, so does our faith and relationship. But that’s a lukewarm faith-view. When we take on a trial and recognize as soon as we can that this is an opportunity for our faith to grow if we turn our attitudes towards God and give Him control, seeking strength to be brought through, our faith will instead grow where our life may seem to go down. This is vital for a believer who truly wants to give in all to Jesus, which we ironically always sing about in our worship songs. When a valley comes our way, consider it an opportunity for joy, because God has already gone before us, and has also already won the victory, so that valley has nothing God isn’t already prepared for, and it’s time we give it over to Him, depending on Him to lead us through.

2. A valley is an attack from the devil, and/or a test.

These two possibilities can often play into each other, but it’s important to recognize that after a mountain experience, satan likes to tear us back down and destroy our experience entirely. He doesn’t like when life is full of blessing and we’re growing, so a common theme is that we will encounter a valley not long after the mountain. These valleys can be attempts for satan to draw us back into our regular habits and take away the growth that occurs from our spiritual highs. That’s why we need to be prepared for his attacks, looking at them as a test that can lead to even greater growth, if we depend on God to strengthen us through them. Along with this, comes surrounding ourselves with other believers who can strengthen and encourage us in our storms, especially with others who have had same experiences like those.

3. A valley is where our faith shines brightest.

If life was always mountain after mountain of blessing and comfort, we wouldn’t see a need to depend on God, and grow in our faith and relationships with Him. Genuine faith grows from the darkest corners when we direct our eyes towards God. God calls for us to be in a relationship with Him, to love Him, as He loves us. Is our love and faith in Him real? Do we truly trust He is God just as we proclaim? Our faith and dependence on Him is shown most in places where it’s needed most. When we go through a valley, God asks us to lay control in His hands, trust that He has gone before us, and have faith He will make a way.

Why is depending on God so important? Because if we truly believe we are children of God, redeemed by His salvation, that He died for our sins, that we may have a relationship with Him, and that we will one day be with Him for eternity; then we also must believe His Word, and that He asks us to be holy, to be like Him, to love like Him, and to make disciples of all the Nations. And the only way we can truly do any of these, is through depending on God. Only God can carry us through our storms. Only God can change and convict our hearts to become more like Him. Only God can help us to love others as ourselves. Only God can handle the weight of our burdens. Only God. Not by our strength, not by our power, not by holding onto control. If we truly are followers of Jesus, we need to stop hanging onto our lives, thinking we have it all under control, that’s how we crash and burn our ship. It’s not an easy thing, it’s a daily recognition that we need to put our lives in His hands, sometimes even momentary. And don’t worry, if you don’t get it right, God has grace, but from that grace and compassion He has for us, He encourages us to keep going and try again, next time, depending on Him for every need. Luke 12:29-31 says

New Living Translation (Chapter 12)

“And don’t be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don’t worry about such things. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.”

It’s so important to be in God’s Word because all throughout Scripture, one of the biggest themes you notice is that when people depended on God, He provided. And when people tried taking matters into their own hands, it didn’t end so well. It’s a great reminder, so use it. Let God take control, stop holding onto your situation or struggle, believing that by your own power you will overcome, when God just wants to show you He is God, He can handle it, and provide.