10/11/20 am Spiritual Potholes--1 Kings 19:1-15

Spiritual Potholes—1 Kings 19:1-15

Elijah was a mighty man, stood up and stood out among the crowd! In obedience to God, he walked before Ahab and told him there would be no rain for 3 ½ years(17:1).

READ 1 Kings 18:17-18—

Visible confrontation and invisible confrontation—18:21-27

Vs24-God answered by fire

Vs27—Elijah mocked them

Elijah Does Three Things

Vs30-37

1) Repair the Altar

—vs 30

2) Prepare for God’s Manifestation

—vs31-3

3) Pray

—vs36-7 Man can build altars any shape and any dimension, but ONLY God can send the fire.

Vs38-39- Victory is now complete

Vs46- What a marvelous victory! It was not cheap or shallow. It was a great move of God and after every great move of God, there will be a “BUT THIS”.

19:1- Ahab went home and told his wife

Juniper Tree Syndrome

Vs2- Juniper tree syndrome-it has or will happen to all of us. Elijah had a pot hole episode and it happened to take place at the juniper tree. Elijah the giant had been reduced to a coward, pleading for a merciful death.

For you and me to go forward in the Spirit, we must understand there will be spiritual “potholes”. We, like Elijah, are not beyond the juniper tree experiences, which if not careful, will paralyze us.

How do we prepare and protect ourselves against such pit stops, juniper tree experiences?—against DISCOURAGEMENT?

Preparing for Pot Holes

Juniper Tree Experiences

1)Desertion Can Come Amid Blessings

—God blesses us each day, and in the times of our blessings, we may encounter dangers: But when we are negligent of God’s blessings, we fall into the trap of Discouragement.

a)Preoccupation- we are apt to get preoccupied in the midst of our blessings, while our pace is accelerated. Old disciplines are shaken off and left for new exciting ones. When Jezebel threatened Elijah, he forgot how God had provided and protected him. He was preoccupied with forgetfulness.

Examples of this could be Lot(Gen 19) and Jonah

b)Presumption- the mighty move of God came about through much prayer with repentance. It will continue that way. It is easy to presume yesterday’s brokenness is price enough for today’s blessings. NOT SO!!!

c)Prayerlessness- it is the tendency to believe that when things are going well and God is moving, there is less need to pray. Times of blessings are times of perial when prayer is desperately needed.

2)Decisions Can Add to Our Discouragement

—discouragement is never feasible. It is always based on false information. Have you given in to discouragement? Look at Elijah’s inconsistencies:

a)Mistaken observation- “When he saw that”(vs3). The ‘that” was the threat of Jezebel. He saw “that” instead of God. We must never establish our directions on the basis of what others may present as our problems.

b)Self preservation- “he arose and went for his life”(vs3). He made a decision based on his passion for self-preservation. That is a mistake-“for if a man shall lose his life, he shall gain it”(luke 9:24). When God sends us, He will always guard us. If we stop to defend ourselves, we shall dilute our devotion. Our safety doesn’t depend on us, if we are God’s, our safety is His business.

3)Mistaken location—when we are in panic mode, we seldom run the right way. Elijah went to Beersheba, where the king was Jezebel’s son-n-law. He ran a days journey in the wrong direction.

3)Depend on God’s Directives to Encourage Us

- vs5-8

The enemy will try to tell you that you are finished when you wake up, that your best is behind you. God responded to Elijah—let him sleep, fed him, let him sleep some more and fed him some more. Sometimes we just need a nap, maybe a power nap. Fatigue is the gateway to discouragement. Things don’t look right when we are physically weary. God knows our need.

4) Know that God’s Direction Is Always Right

- vs9 - our disappointment may be His appointment. We may have hit the bottom, but God is not finished (vs9) Elijah’s best was yet to come. God had more for him.

“WHAT DOEST THOU HERE?”

- VS9 &13- God had not directed him here as he had directed him before. Elijah had run because of fear (vs3).

Vs15-17—God tells Elijah to “return on thy way” go back the way you came!

Vs 18—God reveals to Elijah that he had preserved 7000 faithful followers in israel who had not bowed or kissed the emblems idolatry in worship. What an encouragement!

Maybe today, you are like Elijah—your road has been filled with lots of “pot holes”—you are tired, you are weary, even thinking that you are the only one who is dealing with what is going on in your life.

Would you be willing to do what God told Elijah to do—GET UP, GO BACK FROM WHERE YOU CAME—Repent and get back on track. God will make a way for you.

Have you ever felt dirty, broken, or worthless? Everyone has.

But if someone offered you a $20 bill, would you take it? What if that person wadded it up and threw it on the ground—would you still want it? What if they stepped on it, kicked it, and even spit on it? Could you still go to the store and spend it?

The answer is yes. That bill has value because of what it is, not because of how it looks, where it's been, or what it's been used for. A crisp, clean $20 bill is worth the same amount as an ugly, older, more used one.

You may feel like you've been stepped on, beat up, or kicked around. You may feel dirty, unworthy, or useless. But be encouraged by the $20 bill—no matter what you've been through, you still have value to God!

ITS TIME TO “RETURN ON THE WAY”!

Today is a good day to take the FIRST STEP toward obedience to God!