Title: Jehovah He / 1 Kings 18:36-40
Anxiety is a state of restlessness and not being able to decide where to put one's mind. How anxious are those on board a ship drifting due to engine breakdown? If you get lost while climbing Mt. Halla or Mt. Jiri, don't worry. This is the reason why elderly people diligently catch up with their companions when they travel abroad. If you miss your party and become a loner... Just thinking about it is terrifying. Therefore, it is necessary to accompany a guide when going to an unfamiliar place.
People can't stay long in a state of anxiety. It's because anxiety doesn't put a lot of stress on us. People become very anxious when a member of the family is ill and there is no way to treat it. I can't stand still, I don't know what to do, and I just feel frustrated.
Guys, who do you turn to in times like these? God.
Yes, that's right. God. Only relying on God, praying to God, and waiting quietly is necessary.
But what do most people do? They depend on people rather than God. I only look for medicines that are good for that disease. When someone says they like a certain drug, they try to get it. From that moment on, the drug becomes his savior.
The Red Sea lay in front of the children of Israel who had escaped from Egypt. Behind them, the Egyptian army was chasing after the escaped slaves. The children of Israel had no choice. All they had to do was jump into the Red Sea or be captured by the Egyptian army. Whatever choice they made, it was terrifying for them. Perhaps there has never been a more anxious, anxious, and unbearable time than this.
What did the Israelites do between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea? Did they jump into the Red Sea to avoid being captured by the Egyptian army? Or was it fighting against the Egyptian army? The actions of the children of Israel were neither this nor that. What they did was blame Moses for bringing them out of Egypt. They thought Moses had ruined their lives. They thought that if Moses had not let them escape from Egypt, they would not have died so wretchedly in the wilderness. They depended on Moses, but when things did not go well, they blamed Moses for all their mistakes.
We grumble and complain because we depend on people. If you depend on God, there can be no complaints. No one else can take responsibility for my life. No one else can save my life. It is only God who takes responsibility for me and protects me.
Unlike the children of Israel, Moses relied on God. Because Moses believed in God, he was not afraid even though the Red Sea was open and the Egyptian army came after him. He had no regrets about his escape from Egypt, and he had no doubts that it would have been better to remain in Egypt. All of these were human thoughts and judgments. Moses depended only on God.
What did Moses say to the fearful children of Israel?
"Do not be afraid, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. You will never see the Egyptian you see today again, forever. The LORD will fight for you, and you must be still" (Exodus). 14:13-14)
In our lives, there are far more difficulties beyond our control than we are able to overcome. So what should we do? Should I just stay trembling with anxiety? Or would you have to resort to ineffective treatments to hide your fears?
What we need to remember is that Jesus, who was crucified for our sins, is our Lord and God, He is our Father. Jesus, who sits at the right hand of God, intercedes for us, and God protects us. If we depend on God, what will we be worried about and what will we be anxious about?
We are anxious because we do not serve God as God. What does it mean to not serve God as God? It means relying on something other than God to get what we need.
The Israelites' worship of Baal shows that they failed to serve God as God. The children of Israel served God as well as Baal. They were not satisfied with God alone. They went to Baal because God alone was not enough and they could not get what they wanted.
What did the children of Israel get from Baal? Instead of gaining it, I just lost it. The price they paid for serving Baal was, above all, leaving God. As I was serving Baal, God didn't seem to care much. They looked down on the word of God and did not listen to the word of God delivered by the prophets.
Anyone who seeks to find riches and satisfaction from what is in the world is a servant of modern Baal. Why do people gamble? Isn't it because you have a desire to make big money through gambling? Gambling tempts us as if it could make a lot of money, but in the end it takes everything away from us. When he becomes addicted to gambling, he abandons his wife and children and does not listen to anyone.
Where would you like to gamble? This is how everything in this world becomes Baal.
In order not to fall for Baal or the gods of this world, we must worship and serve only God.
I sometimes hear this from people around me who don't believe. "If you believe in God, will God feed you?" What does this question mean? It means that when we worship God, does God give us everything we want? What do we want? Isn't it wealth and ears in this world? God does not satisfy our desires. When we worship God, we are doing God's will, not fulfilling our desires.
Ladies and gentlemen, what you cannot get from God, you cannot get from serving Baal.
A Samaritan woman who met Jesus at a well in the city of Suga wanted to get what she wanted from her husband. There were only six men whom she served as husbands. But none of the men got the woman what she wanted. The woman did not consider them husbands. What kind of husband is a husband who can't give her what she wants?
What was the woman's fault? She considered her husband an object of worship. The woman expected the character and character of God from her husband. In other words, she thought of her husband as God. The woman wanted true love from her husband, and she wanted him to listen and accept her everything. The woman wanted to live fully serving her husband.
But, look, what the Samaritan woman wanted from her husband was something that only God could give. When she got it from her husband, she became a woman who was ostracized even in the village. And the woman only increased her resentment towards her husband.
Jesus taught the woman who the true object of worship was. The object of true worship is God, whom we must worship in spirit and in truth.
If we worship what is in this world, we are bound to become more and more weary. If we worship only God, we will have more and more abundance.
Everyone!
Are you satisfied with God alone? Can you confess, "The Lord is my shepherd, I will not want"? Most of them probably have the same faith as David. Nevertheless, we often overlook what is in the world because God alone is not enough.
Look at the disciples of Jesus. Even though they were with Jesus, they had other ideas. Aside from James and John, who went directly to Jesus and lobbied, the other disciples often asked, "Who is the greatest?" and arguing.
There is a desire to be elevated in the world. It means there is a desire to rise. That desire is so strong that he would not hesitate to do anything shameful for it. They expect to be exalted in due time. If you do not rise as high as you expect, you will feel miserable. It is as if the meaning of life consists only in increasing.
This is what sets Christians apart from the world. In Christians, instead of a desire to be exalted, there is a desire to be humbled. Hallelujah!
Isn't Jesus the Son of God? But he humbled himself and became a man and lived a life of service on this earth. Moreover, he gave his life as a ransom sacrifice and willingly suffered a shameful death.
It is only natural that Christians who serve Jesus as Lord have a desire to be humbled. A Christian is someone who does not let his left hand know what his right hand is doing when giving alms. A Christian is someone who rejoices in spite of being persecuted because of Jesus. People of the world boast about their brilliance, but Christians boast about their ugliness.
The older you become in your faith, the more you become a deacon, a guru, and an elder, the greater your desire to be humbled should be. To be humbled is to become a doer, not a receiver, and a servant, not one who is served.
The lower a Christian is, the more God's grace comes upon him. On the other hand, when a Christian tries to be exalted, not only does he not see the grace of God, but everything is annoyed. Above all, you must know that the higher you rise, the more you will be serving the gods of the world without your knowledge.
Why should a Christian be humbled? It is because only God alone can be satisfied.
Elijah the prophet of Jehovah and 450 prophets of Baal met on Mount Carmel. The Israelites were not only serving Jehovah God, but also Baal. The Israelites, who were hesitating between Jehovah God and Baal, felt sorry for Elijah and could not bear it. Elijah says: "How long will you hesitate between the two? If the LORD is God, follow him; if Baal is God, follow him."
The prophets of Baal prepared a calf sacrifice and prayed to Baal from morning till evening to put out a fire, but there was no answer. But when Elijah prayed to God in the evening, the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust.
What does this say? We can find it in the responses of the people of Israel. When the people saw this scene, they fell on their faces and said, "The LORD he is God. The LORD he is God."
If Jehovah is God, then Baal is a false god. If Jehovah is God, then of course we should worship Jehovah God and serve only him. If you serve others while knowing that the Lord is God, you are disobeying God and despising God.
Everyone!
The only object we should worship is our Heavenly Father.
There is only one God we can depend on.
The most important and priority thing in our lives is to worship God. What God does not give us cannot be obtained by any power in the world. How long will you disobey God and what you gain from the world will last?
You can find peace when you fully serve God in Christ. I pray that you can be satisfied with only God alone.