06PM November 5 1 Kings 19 1_21
November 5, 2006—Evening Worship
God’s Broken Instruments
Limping Toward God – Part 3 – Elijah
Understanding the Fundamentals of Following God’s Will
1 Kings 19:1-21
Intro: Tired, fatigued, exhausted, weary, worn out, burned out, overworked, overwhelmed, overcommitted, overextended & overloaded. Do any of these words touch a frazzled nerve? If you are like many people in our society, you have used these terms to describe yourself more than once.
[Have you ever wanted to toss your cell phone into a dumpster? Do you ever get frustrated w/lack of signal? I know a man who is kind of rough on cell phones. He couldn’t get a signal one day as he rode down the interstate, so he just rolled the window down & threw the phone out the window. On another occasion, his phone didn’t work the way he thought it should & being very frustrated w/it, he stopped the car, got out, put his cell phone in front of the rear wheel, got back in the car & ran over the phone! That’s frustration!]
Have you seen the signs on trucks that say, “Weight Limit X# of Pounds”? We find load limits on truck, elevators, bridges & such. Wouldn’t it be helpful if we knew our personal load limit? When we fail to understand our limitations, sooner or later, we will indeed break down.
That’s what happened in the life of the man we study tonight, Elijah.
1- Elijah had been called of God as a prophet
2- He was sent to King Ahab to tell him that God declared a drought in the land
3- It did not rain nor dew for 3 ½ years
4- Then the Lord sent Elijah back to King Ahab to tell him it was going to rain
5- At God’s word, Elijah told Ahab to gather all Israel at Mt. Carmel
6- 450 prophets of Baal & 400 prophets of Asherah came plus all Israel
7- READ 1 Kings 18:21
8- So Elijah proposed a contest to see which God would answer 1st by fire
9- Baal’s prophets went 1st & offered their bull sacrifice; but no fire came
10- After much chiding from Elijah & still no fire, it was his turn
11- He built the altar, prepared the sacrifice & put wood for the fire on altar
12- Then he dig a trench around it & poured 4 large pots of water on the altar
13- Elijah prayed to God READ vv. 36-39
14- Elijah commanded that all the Baal prophets be killed & he prayed for rain
15- As he prayed he sent his servant 7x’s to look for clouds & he saw it 7th x
16- & Elijah ran ahead of Ahab’s chariot from Mt. Carmel to Jezreel – 20 miles!
Now let’s read about this spiritual giant who reached his breaking point & find what God did to refresh & rebuild his strength.
READ 1 Kings 19
If you’ve ever felt like Elijah there’s one thing you know for sure…
1. The Enemy never ceases to attack! (READ vv. 1-3)
1. It’s a constant bombardment of sights, sounds & sensations to tempt you & weaken you & literally to destroy you & your effectiveness for God.
[Ted Haggard resigned this week as the pastor of the church he founded in Colorado Springs b/c he is accused of adultery w/a male prostitute. I don’t know if he did it or not, but the point is this—the enemy of our souls never ceases to attack! You can never take for granted that you are not a target b/c you always are!]
2. Elijah hears the threat of the wicked Queen Jezebel & has a major panic attack
3. He is so shaken by what he hears that he flees into the desert & even contemplates killing himself
4. Doesn’t this all seem like a major overreaction to Jezebel’s threat?
5. I mean after all, Elijah has just faced down 850 false prophets surely he can take the verbal assault of just 1 woman!
6. It’s been said that, “Hell hath no fury like that of a woman’s scorn.”
7. But whoever said that has never seen the fury of Hell!
8. Elijah is weak – he just ran a 20 mile race w/a horse & won!
9. As Popeye used to say, “That’s all I can stand & I can’t stands no more!”
10. Every one of us has a breaking point – we can only take so much of a load
a. Some people get ulcers
b. Some have migraines headaches
c. Still others get high blood pressure or panic attacks or depression or even insomnia
11. When you realize that you’ve just blown up over a relatively small matter, it can be an indicator that you are loaded to your limit!
12. Your adversary wants to keep you so busy w/good stuff that you’re too busy for the best stuff
13. He never ceases to attack & if you’ve just won a spiritual victory NEVER EVER give into the temptation to relax your guard
14. I cannot say w/absolute certainty, but I can say w/relative certainty that following every spiritual victory comes another spiritual challenge!
15. Never forget & always remember that your enemy never ceases to attack, so you must always be prepared!
If you understand that the enemy never ceases to attack, then you also understand that…
2. Discouragement hits hard! (READ vv. 4-5a)
1. Aren’t you glad that Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor & are heavy laden, & I will give you rest.
2. God knows our limitations
3. & in these vv. Elijah is venting his frustration & discouragement
4. Sometimes we need to vent or otherwise we may blow up from the pressure
5. I can tell you from experience that it’s easy to become discouraged
6. But if you have someone off of whom you can bounce those thoughts it becomes much easier to bear
7. If you don’t have a close friend to whom you can vent—you need to develop 1!
[Sometimes, not too often, but sometimes I vent to Patricia. Then she sets me straight & I get mad b/c she won’t agree w/my assessment of the situation. But then after some thought I begin to understand that situation from a point of view other than my own.]
8. You see here is Elijah looking at his situation from his point of view only
9. That will cause discouragement & it will hit you hard
10. Elijah thought it would be better for him to die than go through this
11. & for the believer, death does usher us into the portal of heaven
12. But we will never leave this life 1 second early or later than God appointed time
13. So all those thoughts about leaving are just nonsense daydreaming
14. We need to focus on the task before us & Elijah is in no shape to do that
15. So God grants him sleep -- the Bible says in Psalm 127:2 that God gives His beloved sleep
16. Now I’ve said many times that you don’t need more than 4 hours sleep
17. But the truth is that most people need 7 or 8 hours & teenagers need 10-12!
18. Our bodies need rest & by the way I read the other day you burn more calories sleeping than you do watching TV – so go to bed!
19. That’s what Elijah did
20. When the bottom falls out from under you, you have no visible means of support BUT God never leaves His children – He is always there!
If you understand that the enemy never ceases to attack & that discouragement can hit you hard, you probably know from experience that…
3. God’s Provision is more than enough! (READ vv. 5b-9a)
1. Not only does God never leave His children, but He also provides for them
2. God knows your present condition perfectly
3. He understands your situation & He knows why you feel the way you do
4. Did you notice in these vv. that the angel had no message from God?
5. This angel was not the messenger of words or rules or commands
6. This angel was the messenger of the love, grace, mercy & provision of God
7. & while it’s miraculous that an angel appeared to Elijah, how common that he cooked a cake on hot coals?
8. I would have thought that he would have just made it appear
9. Sometimes God’s provision comes in natural forms & sometimes its supernatural
10. But make no mistake—your provision comes from God & it’s always more than enough
11. These vv. tell us that God fed Elijah 2 times & that he went in the strength of that food for 40 days & nights
12. We’re not told why Elijah was going to Mt. Horeb—only that he did
13. We don’t know if God told him to go there or it was just a safe place to go
14. This is the mountain where God gave Moses the Law
15. It’s about as far away from Jezebel as Elijah could get & maybe that’s why he went there
16. At any rate, God’s provision of food, water & shelter are all laid out for us to see
17. Elijah enjoyed them but, in his mental state, probably didn’t realize what God had done for him
18. God’s hand is on you for your good even when you don’t feel it
& if you know that, then you would also agree that…
4. Our Vision can become distorted! (READ vv. 9b-10)
1. Our vision can become distorted but God’s vision is eternal
2. He sees & knows everything & always has
3. When the Lord spoke to Elijah He asked him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
4. There are a few ways to take that question
a. “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
b. “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
c. “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
d. “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
5. Elijah’s vision was distorted & God was trying to get his attention & focus his mind on the truths he knew rather than on the facts he had heard
6. Every fact you hear is not necessarily the truth
7. But Elijah seemed to be stuck on the fact that Jezebel had threatened his life
8. He felt as if he were the only one even trying to serve God in all of Israel
9. Elijah was having himself a little pity party & you can only do that alone
10. He basically told God, “I’ve tried to do the right thing & look where it’s got me”
11. & you may be in a similar situation, thinking that by doing the right thing you somehow got in more trouble
12. & sometimes the right thing will get you in trouble w/men but never w/God
13. So you have to ask yourself, “Who would I rather have upset w/me, men or God?”
14. The distorted vision can make seeing that simple question impossible
15. But shortsightedness only brings the temporary praise of men
16. God’s desire for you is that you have His vision, eternal vision & see your situation from His perspective
17. B/c from His perspective everything is clear
But sometimes we don’t hear God’s question. Sometimes we’re too caught up in ourselves to hear &…
5. We can only hear God if we Listen! (vv. 11-18).
1. READ vv. 11-13a
2. God wants our undivided, careful attention
3. He sent a wind that tore the mountain rocks to pieces
4. He sent an earthquake & a fire
5. But the Lord was not in any of those things
6. God doesn’t need to do spectacular things to get our attention & won’t do them
7. B/c He wants us to hear His voice & obey
8. Did you notice that Elijah didn’t go out of the cave as God said in v. 11?
9. Not until v. 13a does Elijah go out as God commanded
10. READ vv. 13b-14
11. This is the same question God asked Elijah in v. 9 & Elijah gives the same answer as he did in v. 10
12. He still suffers from wrong thinking but God redirects his mind & ministry
13. vv. 14-17 are Elijah’s new marching orders
14. & God sets Elijah straight about him being the only one who serves God
15. READ v. 18
16. 7,000 may not seem like many, but God only counts the true believers
17. God is not interested in crowds, He’s only interested in obedient servants
18. & we can only obey as we listen to Him through His Spirit & His word
& what is one thing God will tell us?…
6. Share the Load and get more done! (vv. 19-21).
1. God didn’t call Elijah to do everything himself
2. & God has not called anyone else to do everything by themselves
3. God puts His people in places of service as He sees fit
4. Every child of God must know his limitations
5. If you don’t, you may get to feeling as if you’re the only one serving God
6. You may be trying to do it all & if you are, you’re doing all of it half way at best
7. God wants all His children to be involved in ministry
8. That’s one reason He gave us all different spiritual gifts, to complete the body to do its work
9. & during the process of letting others share the load of ministry, you develop them as servant leaders to take roles of leadership after you’re gone
10. That applies to family life, corporate life & church life
11. My Grandmother used to say, “Many hands make light the work”
12. It’s a Biblical principal we need to learn & practice
13. Every one of us must prayerfully determine the portion of the load that God has in mind for us to bear.
14. That’s how Jesus could pray in John 17:4 “I have glorified You on earth. I have finished the work You have given Me to do.”
Conclusion: Are you tired? Overworked? Overloaded? That’s not God’s plan for you! You will not glorify God in what you do b/c you are too busy to hear God’s assignments, directions & encouragements. Even Jesus took time away to be alone w/God. How much more do we need that time?
Remember the enemy never ceases to attack & discouragement hits hard. But God’s provision is more than enough even when our vision becomes distorted. & remember, we can only hear God if we listen intently for Him & we can accomplish exactly what He wants if we concentrate on doing exactly what He wants – no more & no less.
You may feel like you’re limping toward God & that’s o.k. b/c we’ve seen 3 people already that went through the same thing in their lives. Jacob overcame to be called the Prince of God. Rahab overcame to become one of those mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. & Elijah overcame to become one of only 2 people who never died, but was translated from this life straight to heaven.
We can be just like them – if, for the glory of God, we apply the lessons from their lives to ours.
Invitation: Are you under attack from the enemy? Are you discouraged? Are you aware of God’s abundant provision for you? Is your vision becoming distorted? Are you listening for God? Are you struggling under the weight of responsibilities you’ve taken on which God never intended for you to carry?
God wants to bring you out of that discouragement & to help you see things from His perspective. God wants to bring you through the valley of the shadow of death. God wants you to listen to His still small voice & you can only do that when you are alone & your ears are trained on Him.
Would you come tonight & offer yourself to God that He might use you as He did Jacob & Rahab & Elijah? The only thing that’s stopping Him from doing that is your selfish disobedience to His word.
Come tonight—be made right w/God—experience His grace—& be changed for His glory.
Hymn 133 The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power