even the most devoted of God's servants can experience discouragement and exhaustion allowing their circumstances to overwhelm their daily trust in God Elijah a prophet of the Northern Kingdom of Israel had witnessed and performed some of the most incredible Miracles recorded in the Bible nonetheless not long after he succumbed to depression and Terror in response to King ahab's rebellious wickedness God told Elijah to declare a drought on the land dear during this time God repeatedly demonstrated his provision and care for Elijah allowing him to drink water from a creek that should have been dry and sending
Ravens to bring him bread and meat to eat first Kings 17 1-7 now Elijah the tishbite of the people who were staying in Gilead said to Ahab as the Lord the god of Israel lives before whom I stand for sure there will be no rain or water on the grass in the early morning these years except by my word and the word of the Lord came to him saying leave here and turn East hide Yourself by the River cherith East of the Jordan you will drink from the river and I have told the Ravens to
bring food to you there so he went and did what he was told by the word of the Lord he went and lived by the River cherith East of the Jordan the Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening and he drank from the river but after after a while the river dried up because there was no rain in the land later the Lord led him to the home of a widow who was suffering the full blunt of the drought she was down to her last morsels of food but God
gave Elijah the authority to assure her that her flour and oil would be replenished miraculously day after day and they were when the Widow's son died Elijah prayed to God to bring him back to life and he did then the word of the Lord came to him saying get up and go to sarapath which belongs to sidon and stay there I have told a woman there whose husband has died to feed you so Elijah got up and went to sarapath when he came to the City Gate he saw a woman there Gathering sticks he called
to her and said I ask of you get me a little water in a jar that I may drink as she was going to get it he called to her I ask of you bring me a piece of bread in your hand but she said as the Lord your God Lives I have no bread I only have enough flour in the jar to fill a hand and a little oil in the jar see I am Gathering a few sticks so I may go and make it ready for me and my son then we will eat
it and die Elijah said to her have no fear go and do as you have said but make me a little loaf of bread from it first and bring it out to me then you may make one for yourself and for your son for the Lord God of Israel says the jar of flour will not be used up and the jar of oil will not be empty until the day the Lord sends rain upon the Earth so she went and did what Elijah said and she and those of her house ate for many days the
jar of flour was not used up and the jar of oil did not become empty it happened as was spoken by the word of the Lord through Elijah after this the son of the woman who owned the house became sick his sickness was so bad that there was no breath left in him so the woman said to Elijah what do I have to do with you oh man of God you have come to me to have my sin be remembered and to kill my son he said to her give me your son then he took
him from her arms and carried him up to the room on the second floor where he stayed and he laid him on his own bed he called to the Lord and said oh Lord my God have you brought trouble to the woman I am staying with by making her son die then he lay upon the child three times and called to the Lord saying oh Lord my God I pray to you let this child's life return to him the Lord heard the voice of Elijah and the life of the child returned to him and he
became strong again Elijah took the child and brought him down from the second floor into the house and gave him to his mother he said see your son is alive then the woman said to Elijah now I know that you are a man of God now I know that the word of the Lord in your mouth is true First Kings 17 8-24 then God summoned Elijah to a battle with Pagan prophets on a mountain side overlooking the sea when the competition began their so-called God did not appear to accept their sacrifice despite their demonstrative efforts
to summon him when it was Elijah's turn he prayed and the Living God consumed the prophet's sacrifice with fire from heaven despite the fact that Elijah had repeatedly soaked the altar in water so now call together all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel and gather together 450 men who speak for Baal and 400 men who speak for the false goddess Ashera who eat at Jezebel's table so Ahab sent news among all the people of Israel and he brought the men who speak for the false gods together at Mount Carmel Elijah came near all the
people and said how long will you be divided between two ways of thinking if the Lord is God follow him but if Baal is God then follow him but the people did not answer him a word then Elijah said to the people I am the only man left who speaks for God but here are 450 men who speak for Baal bring two bulls to us let them choose one one bull for themselves and cut it up and put it on the wood but put no fire under it I will make the other bull ready and
lay it on the wood and I will put no fire under 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 all the people answered and said that is a good idea so Elijah said to the men who spoke for Baal choose one bowl for yourselves and make it ready first for there are many of you then call on the name of your God but put no fire under it so they took the bull which was given
to them and made it ready then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying oh Baal answer us but there was no voice no one answered they jumped up and danced around the altar they had made at noon Elijah made fun of them he said call out with a loud voice for he is a god it might be that he is in deep thought or is turned away he could be away traveling or it may be that he is asleep and needs to have someone wake him so they cried with a
loud voice they cut themselves as they had done in the past with swords and Spears until blood poured out on them when noon passed they cried out until the time for giving the evening gift but there was no voice no one answered no one listened then Elijah said to all the people come near to me so all the people came near to him and he built again the altar of the Lord which had been torn down then Elijah took 12 Stones by the number of the families of Jacob's sons the word of the Lord had
come to Jacob's sons saying Israel will be your name with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord and he made a ditch around the altar big enough to hold 22 jars of seed then he set wood in place he cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood and he said fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt gift and on the wood then he said do it a second time and they did it a second time he said do it a third time and they
did it a third time the water flowed around the Altar and filled the ditch also then the time came for giving the evening gift Elijah the man who spoke for God came near and said oh oh Lord God of Abraham Isaac and Israel let it be known today that you are God in Israel let it be known that I am your servant and have done all these things at your word answer me O Lord answer me so these people may know that you oh Lord Our God turn their hearts to you again then the fire
of the Lord fell it burned up the burnt gift the wood the stones and the Dust and it picked up the water that was in the ditch all the people fell on their faces when they saw it they said the Lord he is God the Lord he is God first Kings 181 19-39 the crowds not only saw God's fire in Elijah but they also saw it in his ministry literally Elijah became frustrated with his people's spiritual rebellion and enraged by the false prophet of Baal he faced both forces at top Mount Carmel and defeated the
devil's henchmen despite the fact that they outnumbered him 850 to one no one had seen anything like his bravery since the unremembered day David fought Goliath years before and like the underdog David Elijah confronted his adversary with Zeal his gaze was drawn to God's Majesty not the number of his adversaries this heavenly vision provided the fuel that kept his courage burning leaders require courage at all times no one who wishes to affect change can do so without courage Elijah's heart was filled with courage because one his determination outweighed his reservations despite being vastly outnumbered Elijah
determined that Baal had to be confronted at all costs two his desire triumphed over his desperation despite the danger Elijah answered to honor Yahweh Above All Else three his compassion outweighed his dissatisfaction despite his dislike for the people's attitude Elijah desired for them to find and follow Yahweh while worshiping and praying alone at top of the mountain Elijah mustered the courage to summon fire from heaven the fire within him Drew Down God's fire decisively defeating Baal following this incredible display of God's power hour he summoned Elijah to perform another miracle the prophet prayed for the
drought to end and God responded by sending a tiny Cloud followed by a torrential downpour given all of his success one would expect Elijah to be brimming with confidence joy and praise for the Lord at this point in his life when he learned that Queen Jezebel had vowed to kill him he fled to the opposite end of the country where he sat down under a tree and begged God to take his life First Kings 18: 41-46 then Elijah said to Ahab go up eat and drink for there is the sound of much rain so Ahab
went up to eat and drink but Elijah went up to the top of Carmel he got down on the ground and put his face between his knees and he said to his servant go up now and look towards the sea so he went up and looked and said there is nothing seven times Elijah said go again the seventh time he said I see a cloud as small as a man's hand coming up from the sea Elijah said go and tell Ahab make your war wagon ready and go down so that the rain does not stop
you soon the sky became black with clouds and wind and there was much rain and Ahab went to Jezreel then the hand of the Lord was on Elijah he pulled his clothing up under his belt and ran before Ahab to Jezreel First Kings 18 1-9 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done he told her how Elijah had killed with the sword all the men who spoke for Baal then Jezebel sent news to Elijah saying so may the gods do to me and even more if I do not make your life as the life of
one of them by this time tomorrow Elijah was afraid he got up and ran for his life when he came to beerseba of Judah he left his servant there but he himself traveled for a day into the desert he came and sat down under a juniper tree there he asked that he might die saying it is enough now O Lord take my life for I am not better than my fathers when he lay down and slept under the juniper tree an angel touched him the angel said to him get up and eat then Elijah looked
and saw by his head a loaf of bread made ready on hot stones and a jar of water so he ate and drank and lay down again the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said get up and eat because this traveling is too hard for you so he got up and ate and drank and he went in the strength of that food for 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb the Mountain of God he came to a cave and stayed there the word of the Lord came to him
and said what are you doing here Elijah Elijah said I have been very careful to serve the Lord the God of all for the people of Israel have turned away from your agreement they have torn down your alars and have killed with the sword the men who speak for you only I am left and they want to kill me fortunately that is not the end of the story God did not abandon Elijah when he discovered him to put it mildly not at his best no the Lord picked him up tossed him back into The Fray
provided him with invaluable assistance in the form of the Prophet Elisha and then whisked him away to heaven in a whirlwind First Kings 19 11-18 so the angel said go and stand on the mountain before the Lord and the Lord passed by a strong wind tore through the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord but the Lord was not in the wind after the wind the Earth shook but the Lord was not in the shaking of the earth after the Earth shook a fire came but the Lord was not in the fire
and after the fire came a sound of gentle blowing when Elijah heard it he put his coat over his face and went out and stood at the opening of the hole then a voice came to him and said what are you doing here Elijah he said I have been very careful to serve the Lord the God of all for the people of Israel have turned away from your agreement they have torn down your altars and they have killed with the sword the men who speak for you only I am left and they want to kill
me the Lord said to him go return on your way to the desert of Damascus when you get there set apart hael to be the king of Syria set apart nmi's son juu to be the king of Israel and set apart Elisha the son of Shea fat of Abel mahola to speak for God in your place ju will kill the one who gets away from The Sword of Hazel Elisha will kill the one who gets away from The Sword of juu but I will leave 7,000 in Israel whose knees have not bowed down in front
of Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him 2 Kings 2:11 and it came to pass as they still went on and talked that behold there appeared a chariot of fire and Horses of Fire fire and parted them both aunder and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven we are human just like the Prophet Elijah we become exhausted and when our minds and bodies Tire we can become overwhelmed however the God who created us Psalm 10314 for he knoweth our frame he rememberthe are dust God never forgets his promises to us even when our
memory of God's Great kindness Fades the Prophet Elijah was aware of Israel's idolatry he was aware that the time for judgment had arrived he also knew that drought and famine were on their way to devastate Israel he knew because he had declared God's judgment this all happened during a very sad period in Israel's history when the people had all but turned their backs on God and their King had openly and boldly sinned against the Lord Imagine The Bravery at took for one man to pray for judgment on his own people confront a wicked King and
then stand before hundreds of false prophets and question their piety although the Lord took Elijah to Heaven a long time ago this courageous Prophet continues to Proclaim that true leadership may require standing alone and speaking difficult truths
