When God calls you to a difficult task

Good evening I am so glad everyone could make it this evening, I want to start tonight by asking you a question. Do you want to serve the Lord? When you think about your life do you say to yourself that more than anything else you want to be in the will of God serving God and doing what God desires for you to do?

Do you mean that from the depths of your heart?

I do, I mean i have been thinking alot lately and I want my life to count, it hasnt been long ago that I was watching the kids at the beach and the kids were throwing seashells into the water, and on one particular morning the wind was rough but the water right at the waters edge was calm as they threw those seashells back into the still water I watched as the ripples carried out until they met an incoming wave, that made me think on two things.

OUR SINGLE ACT OF OBEDIENCE CAUSES RIPPLES.

Whether we think about it or not the decisions that we make or refuse to make reverberate throughout history, for example if I choose not to disciple my children then that choice will cause ripples for years to come.

2. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A FORCE TRYING TO IMPEDE PROGRESS

As those ripples rolled outward they could have kept going and going, if you think about it if the kids had been throwing rocks into a lake that was slick as glass those ripples would have kept going but based on the fact we were at the beach there was the force of the waves crashing down stopping the progress of the ripple.

THis made me think of our Christian life if we choose to be in God’s will, serving Him and trying to make decision that impact eternity then we must understand that we have an enemy that seeks to impede progress, Satan does not desire to see you progress personally in your walk with the Lord, but He certainly doesnt want you impacting the world around you with the love of Jesus Christ.

IF YOU WANT YOUR LIFE TO COUNT, IF YOU WANT TO SERVE THE LORD THEN YOU WILL BE CALLED TO DO DIFFICULT THINGS

I wish the call of Jesus was often as easy as tying tennis shoes but it is not, because God does not need people who seek to do easy tasks but people who would rather seek to do impossible tasks and trust God to accomplish it.

Far too often we have a narrow minded shortsighted view of what god wants to do, we think to small, we need to think bigger.

We need to be able to answer the first question : DO YOU WANT TO SERVE JESUS?

If you do then you must understand that God’s call will be difficult and it will be specific.

You well well i am no preacher I am not called into vocational ministry so will God call me? Absolutely first of all God has already called you to be a minister, every disciple of Jesus Christ has been called to minister to others both by sharing the gospel and serving others.

So what is God calling you to?

When we speak about the calling of god and a persons response to that call there are many passages we could look at but were going to be looking tonight at Elijah and his life and how God used Him to change a whole nation for god;s glory.

First of all we need to understand who Elijah is. Elijah’s name means “The Lord is God” which is interesting because this is back in the days when names meant something, and a persons name actually pertained to what He or she would do or be like.

Elijah’s name is signifigant because it means the Lord is God and this prophet spent all of his life confronting false God’s within his culture. Namely the false god Baal.

The Environment Elijah was called into:

This was a time for Israel when public worship had all but vanished people were just not following the Lord and they had other things they were doing rather than worshipping the one true God. It was a time marked by violence against those who followed Yahweh the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, it was a time marked by spiritual laziness and apathy of the people of God.

All of this to say God never calls us to minister in the midst of a spiritual Oasis, where there is beauty and perfection, God calls us into tumuluous situations that lack order, and beauty, in order that He might restore what is broken.

So when we ask the question: GOD WHAT ARE YOU CALLING ME TO DO? We shouldn’t look for the positions of service that seem to be the best fit, the most comfortable, or those that best suit our natural giftedness.

We should remain open to the idea that God may and often does call us into situations that we are not naturally gifted to handle so that we can see the supernatural happening through us. We get and idea of the environment Elijah was called into by looking no further than the King who was reigning in his day. King Ahab.

Let us allow the Bible to tell us who Ahab was and what he was all about.

1 Kings 16:29–33 ESV

In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

1 Kings 16:29-

There were some ruthless dudes that served before Ahab but Ahab was the nastiest of them all, taking Jezebel as his wife and fully embracing the worship of Baal. Building altars to Baal and even building an asherah pole to his honor.

God said thou shalt have no other gods before me and Ahab built a temple to the false god baal. This was blatant disrespect of God and what He had commanded. Now Baal was believed by the people to be the god of storms and rain, and so they would worship Baal in order to bring about the neccesarry conditions for growing a crop.

Let’s put it in our terms the people worshipped their livlihood more than the true God. Even worse than that they replaced the worship of the living god for a idol who could do nothing.

WHEN GOD WANTS TO DO SOMETHING IN THE WORLD HE RAISES UP A MAN OR WOMAN TO DO IT THROUGH.

Its just the way God works: GOD WILL DO WHATEVER GOD WILLS TO DO AS LONG AS HE HAS A MAN TO DO IT THROUGH.

Will you be the one who says yes to God?

Elijah was called

God’s Specific Call

While we don’t have the record of the specific call of God we know there had to be one because Elijah would not have went forth doing this had the Lord not put it in his heart to do so. But God had moved within him he knew he must go and be obedient to the Lord.

1 Kings 17:1 ESV

Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”

There is a time when god calls a man to step up and act! now the choice had become Elijah’s and Elijah decided to be obedient to the call God had placed over His life. 1 STEP OF FAITH IN ALIGNMENT WITH OBEDIENCE is better than reading for years about what obedience is.

If you will go into Christian bookstores you will find a myriad of books on obedience and following God there is only one problem, you can learn about obedience all day and never actually be obedient to anything. Two things have to happen before obedience

You must have a word from the Lord

You must act on that word in faith

Think about Elijah here, do you understand what it would mean for him to walk into the royal court and tell King Ahab who thought he was in control of all things that there would be no rain except for at his word?

This to Ahab would have been blasphemous and disrespectful because he is the one who built this temple to the false god of the storms. Now here stands Elijah proclaiming that no rain would fall unless he said that it would. That is bold faith, this took courage and bold belief that God who controls the elements would be working for and through you and wouldn’t allow it to rain.

I mean this is a death sentence only someone with a death wish would walk into a ruthless dictator and command him that things were going to be your way alone and then walk out! God will tell you when to stand up and it may bring a lump into your throat but if God says do something you better let the voice of God be louder than the voice of men because the fear of man brings a snare.

I mean here God has called Elijah to stand up against the entire nation because the majority of the nations had bowed their knee to Baal, how many of you know that God’s call is not determined by your amount of influence. That is a lie that is taught in our churches today that somehow we should strive to have more influence so we can impact more people, wrong start by being obedient where you are and God Himself will enlarge your influence because if you cannot serve God in isolation you certainly wont serve him if you have a crowd.

1 Kings 17:2 ESV

And the word of the Lord came to him:

:2

After obedience comes another piece of the puzzle.

1 Kings 17:3 ESV

“Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.

1 Kings

You see God will tell you when to speak out and He will tell you when to get out, that”s just how He works, He lets Elijah know very plainly you need to hide now they are coming for you. God has a ministry for Elijah the same way He has a ministry for you, and when you take that initial step of obedience god begins His work. He says its time to go into hiding

It is very interesting to notice the place God sends Elijah during this time in the wilderness. he sends him to the brook Cherith, the word CHERITH means “a cutting away” You ned to understand something when you really get ready to walk with God when you finally surrender your life to be used for His glory each and every day and you mean it from the bottom of your heart then just get ready because He is gonna send you somewhere where He will begin to cut some things out of your life that don’t need to be there.

Don’t expect God to use you for Him unless you are prepared to allow him to mold you like the potter does the clay. He bends and molds and scrapes out impurities until the vessel becomes useful for the task that he intends it to be used for! That’s what He does with us He call us and then He begins removing things that will hinder us in the future.

So can you imagine this with me for a minute your Elijah and you have been called by God for task and now your in the wilderness in the middle of a drought?

GOD MAY CALL YOU TO DRY SEASONS IN YOUR FAITH BUT HE WILL ALWAYS PROVIDE A MEANS OF HEALTH AND PROVISION.

1 Kings 17:4 ESV

You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”

You might say well man I dont know if I can quit my job and go into ministry, how are we gonna eat.... the birds will feed you. HAHA the point is that you wont know where or how your needs will be met but faith says I trust God with it!

Not only are these birds their ravens these are flesh eating birds, God says Im going to take the meat eaters and they are gonna deliver you meat to eat!

1 Kings 5 ESV

Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram always loved David. And Solomon sent word to Hiram, “You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’ Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.” As soon as Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord this day, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people.” And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message that you have sent to me. I am ready to do all you desire in the matter of cedar and cypress timber. My servants shall bring it down to the sea from Lebanon, and I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you direct. And I will have them broken up there, and you shall receive it. And you shall meet my wishes by providing food for my household.” So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the timber of cedar and cypress that he desired, while Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors of wheat as food for his household, and 20,000 cors of beaten oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty. King Solomon drafted forced labor out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men. And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the draft. Solomon also had 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief officers who were over the work, who had charge of the people who carried on the work. At the king’s command they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones. So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.

1 Kings 17:5 ESV

So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan.

Here is this unreasonable obedience again trusting in the Lord all the way never doubting, never worrying just trusting in Him.

1 Kings 17:6 ESV

And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

Now Elijah has been obedient surely as a blessing for his obedience things are going to get better right?

1 Kings 17:7 ESV

And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

Have any of you began fully nourished in your walk with God and then come to this place of spiritual dryness and blandness where you didnt really understand why or what was wrong with you, you jst felt parched on the inside this is what ELijah is feeling physically here, he has been obedient and now the brook that was sustaining him is empty.

It is easy to start obeying God it is another thing altogether being a finisher.

We have many starters but e dont have enough people who focus on finishing well.

Now God is not going to leave Elijah out there suffering surely He is going to provide for him some way. But ?

1 Kings 17:8 ESV

Then the word of the Lord came to him,

God speaks again, do you see the cycle? Command, faithfilled obedience, provision, command, faithfiled obedience, provision.

Now God is going to give Him a command

1 Kings 17:9 ESV

“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”

Now God has shifted his focus from ravens to a widow.

This shows the SOVERIGN rule of God in every creation, He is Lord over the rain, He is Lord over the raven, He is Lord over the widow, He is Lord over Elijah.

Do you see how specific this is go there, dwell there, i have commanded a widow to feed you there,

GODS PROVISIONS ARE ONLY FOUND IN THE PLACE GOD SENDS YOU

If Elijah had chosen to remain at the brook Cherith he would have perished but since he arose and listened to the word of the Lord which came to Him God had already gone before Him to provide for His needs.

1 Kings 17:10 ESV

So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.”

Elijah arrives and lo and behold guess who is there the widow, and she is gathering sticks probably for a fire. Notice that the man of God asks for an act of faith from the widow!

HE ASKS FOR WATER WELL IN A DROUGHT WATER IS HARD TO COME BY!

Not only is she concerned for herself she has a child to care for!

But notice her response

faith filled obedience

1 Kings 17:11 ESV

And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

This is where Elijah ups the ante bring me some bread to, well good Lord mr prophet have you lost your mind asking from this woman bread and water when there is a drought and famine?

(giving)

GOD WILL USE PHYSICAL LACK TO TEST YOUR SPIRITUAL TRUST

1 Kings 17:12 ESV

And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.”

I mean these poor people are on their last leg how dare the man of God ask something like this of her right now in this moment. This shows a little doubt on her part, she is saying please sir I know the right thing to do is to help you out but my son and i are about to die.

Notice the words of Elijah

1 Kings 17:13 ESV

And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son.

God speaking through the prophet says bring it to me first!

COULD IT BE THAT ELIJAH IS DOING TO HER WHAT GOD HAS DONE TO HIM FIRST?

Asking her to act in faith while in his mind he knows that she does the righteous thing that she will be taken care of...

1 Kings 17:14 ESV

For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ”

1 Kings 17:15 ESV

And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days.

Here is the cycle

COMMAND/FAITH-FILLED OBEDIENCE/ PROVISION

Step by step by step

not knowing where the next step is going to be never knwoing how it all will work out,

ONLY TRUST HIM ONLY TRUST HIM, ONLY TRUST HIM NOW, HE WILL SAVE YOU HE WILL SAVE YOU HE WILL SAVE YOU NOW

If you want to know how to thrive when everyone else around you is perishing, seek a word from God, obey the commands of God in faith, and He will provide for your needs.

This is how the joy-filled adventure filled Christian life works.

We will never experience God unless we experience Him in faith by being obedient, and HE will meet us there and show us miracles.