Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room
April 18, 2023
1 Kings 19:1-15
1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, how he had killed all Baal’s prophets with the sword. 2 Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with this message: “May the gods do whatever they want to me if by this time tomorrow I haven’t made your life like the life of one of them.” 3 Elijah was terrified. He got up and ran for his life. He arrived at Beer-sheba in Judah and left his assistant there. 4 He himself went farther on into the desert a day’s journey. He finally sat down under a solitary broom bush. He longed for his own death: “It’s more than enough, LORD! Take my life because I’m no better than my ancestors.” 5 He lay down and slept under the solitary broom bush. Then suddenly a messenger tapped him and said to him, “Get up! Eat something!” 6 Elijah opened his eyes and saw flatbread baked on glowing coals and a jar of water right by his head. He ate and drank, and then went back to sleep. 7 The LORD’s messenger returned a second time and tapped him. “Get up!” the messenger said. “Eat something, because you have a difficult road ahead of you.” 8 Elijah got up, ate and drank, and went refreshed by that food for forty days and nights until he arrived at Horeb, God’s mountain. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. The LORD’s word came to him and said, “Why are you here, Elijah?” 10 Elijah replied, “I’ve been very passionate for the LORD God of heavenly forces because the Israelites have abandoned your covenant. They have torn down your altars, and they have murdered your prophets with the sword. I’m the only one left, and now they want to take my life too!” 11 The LORD said, “Go out and stand at the mountain before the LORD. The LORD is passing by.” A very strong wind tore through the mountains and broke apart the stones before the LORD. But the LORD wasn’t in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake. But the LORD wasn’t in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake, there was a fire. But the LORD wasn’t in the fire. After the fire, there was a sound. Thin. Quiet. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his coat. He went out and stood at the cave’s entrance. A voice came to him and said, “Why are you here, Elijah?” 14 He said, “I’ve been very passionate for the LORD God of heavenly forces because the Israelites have abandoned your covenant. They have torn down your altars, and they have murdered your prophets with the sword. I’m the only one left, and now they want to take my life too.” 15 The LORD said to him, “Go back through the desert to Damascus and anoint Hazael as king of Aram.
Good Morning; Praise God for the beauty of spring in the Piedmont of Virginia.
Elijah was fighting the good fight as God called him to do! He rebuilt the broken altar using 12 stones to represent the 12 tribes. He went to confront Ahab, which brought rain to the parched land, and he removed the false prophets of Baal that Ahab worshipped. Despite doing what God commanded, he now felt threatened and feared for his life.
It is easy to relate to Elijah because most of us have had an experience where we did the right thing, but then we were shunned or mistreated for our actions. I remember, in elementary school, standing up for someone who was being picked on and then being called out by the teacher who had just returned to the classroom. Perhaps the teacher stepped into the room at just the wrong minute and didn’t know the whole story. The point is I did the right thing, but now I was worried about getting in trouble.
The teacher asked me to wait in the hall for what seemed like hours I imagined all the ways this could go wrong. I thought about the phone call she would make to my parents, being grounded, and just being embarrassed that I was out in the hall. What would others think when they saw me there? When the teacher came out, she said that she had talked to my classmates and knew that I did the right thing. I wasn’t in trouble after all. In fact, she thanked me for doing the right thing that stopped the others from bullying the other student. She empowered me to continue doing the right thing.
Elijah ran away in fear, but God knew everything that had happened. When Elijah fled, God provided for his needs and sent him to the mountain. Elijah needed time, and God gave him time. When Elijah was ready, God came and spoke to him. God took away Elijah’s fear and sent him to continue his work for God.
Blessed God, We thank you for Your blessings. You call us to do your will. Help us stay strong as we serve you. Thank You! In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: I can turn criticism into an opportunity to seek God’s guidance.
God provides! Pastor Liz
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