Lord We Need You: Encouragement

Introduction

Last week we started our series called Lord We Need You and we started out with the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the central truth from that text and that story in Scripture is that the Lord offers deliverance to His people who put their trust and faith in Him even in life and death situations.

Guys we are living in many uncertain times and everything looks different than it did in February of this year and everything seems like it has been turned upside down. Fear based decisions are made by everyone. Right now it seems like we are all wondering where God is? Why is this happening? And I think it is revealing for a lot of us that we weren’t really relying on God daily but using Him as our sidekick to OUR desires and what WE wanted for ourselves. And now those things are being stripped away from us and we are left wondering what our identity really is…is it in Christ? or was it in something else?

Today we are going to be focusing on the need we have for not just encouragement but the encouragement that comes from God and His word, through prayer, through community to uplift us and spur us along to seek after Him. Everybody turn to 1 Kings 19.

A little bit of background: 1 and 2 Kings are two books of the Bible that were actually compiled together as one book to explain 400 years of history of the Israelite people and their quest for kingship. This would outline a multitude of kings that sought after their own wills, their own desires, their own purposes, fulfilled their need for money, power, and esteem. Where we are going to step in here is in the middle of that era of kings in Israel and Judah under the reign of a King named Ahab and his crazy wife Jezebel. They have instituted the worship of a God named Baal. Because of their disobedience to God the prophet Elijah that God had appointed during that time to be His mouthpiece to His people had been told to pray for a drought. So there had been no rain in the land for 3 1/2 years. At that time Elijah sends a messenger to the king to tell him to bring 450 prophets of Baal to challenge him at an altar on Mount Carmel. The story goes that the prophets of Baal try over and over and over to make the offering burn by asking Baal but it didn’t happen. Then Elijah comes up, asked them to pour on 7 cisterns of water on the sacrifice and he asked God to send down fire on this sacrifice and God did it. The Lord sends down rain on Israel and after this great victory Elijah was riding to confront Ahab but Jezebel ignored what God did and sent a messenger to Elijah and that’s where we pick up.

The enemy’s message of danger (1-4)

The message of danger ahead always intimidates.

Jezebel could have just had elijah killed, but instead she strategically sent him that death note because if Elijah was killed after a miraculous act of God that would make Elijah a martyr and might provoke worship of God, but instead she wanted to intimidate Elijah so that people would drift back into worshipping Baal since God’s prophet just exited the scene.

Prophets are people too.

Sometimes we try to elevate people in the Bible to a higher position than they would put themselves. They are human too with emotions, weakness, but they are being used by God. Elijah had just had an extremely emotionally and physically demanding day on the Mount and in a moment of fear he ran. He forgot all that God had done on the mountain and now he ran for the hills.

In one of Elijah’s strongest moments he stumbled.

Elijah was a bold man, but his courage failed when he heard Jezebel’s message.

He began arguing against God and God’s will in His prayer to God. His emotional burnout, hunger, thirst, deep sense of failure, lack of faith, had brought Elijah into a deep sense of depression.

The angel’s message of grace (5-8)

If we don’t come apart and rest, we will come apart.-Vance Havner

The angel of the Lord came to give Elijah grace and encourage Him to rest, and give him purpose.

The angel of the Lord (also mentioned in Genesis 16:10, Exodus 3:1-4, and Judges 2:1-4) who many would say is the Lord Jesus Christ came and prepared a meal for Elijah.

The journey that God gives you to walk will always be more than you can handle…but He does so so that He gets the glory, you clearly see His hand at work in your life, and so that others can clearly see His hand at work in your life.

The Creator’s message of power (9-14)

God displays His power to a discouraged servant.

God wanted to know why Elijah was running from his assignment of ministry. And God got Elijah’s response.

Elijah was discouraged because he believed he was the only one in Israel that hadn’t turned his back on God. He was prideful and displaying self-pity. The Lord wanted him to walk by faith knowing that God was still working.

The Lord’s message of hope (15-21)

God reassured Elijah that His work was not in vain

God reassured Elijah that His work would continue

God reassured Elijah to press on in the work God had for him.

Conclusion

Application: Do you ever feel like giving up?

Do you feel like your work for God is in vain?

Are you tired of praying for your friends to know Him?

Are you weary because of persecution?

Are you tired of running from God and His plan for you?

Do you feel like the only one?