Extraordinary Life - Elijah (2)

Illustration - Underdog story - lord of the rings

We all love a good underdog story!!!

Rocky 4

Rudy

Frodo/Bilbo

Do you ever feel like the underdog though? Then it doesnt feel as great.

In life, do you feel outmatched by evil, wrong doing, and brokenness/dissappointment?

This is not a fun place to be, if you have been there.

Last week…we started

We learned how to find hope in a hopless place

Today we are going to see Elijah in a place we never hope to find ourselves, outmatched.

Outmatched - Define it - Not like sizing up the opps

I mean:

Feeling of overwhelm

feeling like the odds are against you

feeling like the task is too big, or worse…

feeling like your too small

The feeling is common when we look at our world b/c…

Our world is not as it should be

There is alot of good in our life

But theres also alot of bad

poverty

isolation

war

racism

injustice

the list goes on..

Our task as Christians is to help heal the world.

God does this throughout the bible with…

Ordinary people that love him

Elijah, you, me..

It is normal to feel outmatched

Brokeness and evil have reigned for thousands of years.

How are we supposed to do anything?

David/Goliath

This is what I feel by “Outmatched”

But…When we feel outmatched, God gains the victory!

Elijah lived in an overwhelmingly evil time remember?

Wars, famine, evil king - His name was Ahab

He may have been the worst king/person to ever have lived

He Married Jezebel (evil woman)

Lead the country to worship baal (Bull idol, in control of weather)

Pleasing baal was not easy primarily done through human sacrifice (including children)

Elijah felt like he was the last person in the country that worshipped God

That is how rampant the followers of baal were.

1 Kings 18:17–24 “When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.””

CONTEST TIME!!!

Baal’s prophets go first lets see…

1 Kings 18:25–29 “Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.”

NOTHING HAPPENS

They dance

Elijah mocks them

Elijah on the other hand…

1 Kings 18:36–39 “At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!””

Explain what just happened.

Talk about an underdog story!

Do you ever feel outmatched 450 to 1? The whole world is against you? All the teachers seem to fuss

You and your friend are fighting

Your parents may be fighting

A family member is sick

Had a bad day in general? God gives us hope in these seasons.

Hundreds of years later, Paul wrote this to the church in corinth:

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

When we are outmatched, God gains victory

because it is not our:

passion

intelligence

ability

strength that heals brokenness;

it is His power and love that heals.

Elijah didn’t light the sacrifice on fire;

he simply set up the altar and watched God do His thing. It is the same with us.

APPLY: So…what does this mean for us?

When you feel outmatched, setup the altar.

Its not our responsibility to fix the brokenness in the world, God does that.

Be Kind

Fight for the right thing

Sit at the feet of Jesus.

We can help create the environment for God to move, transform, and heal.

When the altar is setup, ask God to light it.

We pray.

Remember, God’s victory glorifies him, not us.

Dont become prideful.

We can have confidence in God through Jesus.

He overcame the ultimate brokenness, through the cross.

What if your feeling of overwhlelm in life can be cured not by what you can do, but what Jesus can do through you.

RFBC

Underdogs seem to be alone sometimes, but we arent.

We always have God with us through the Holy Spirit.

Like Elijah, we have all felt outmatched

But God is never outmatched. He will gain the victory.

Lets pray.