Title: Now is the Time to Happen
Contents
1 Kings 19 ; 1-14
now is the time to wake up
.Now the harvest season has arrived in earnest. The whole field is golden, a beautiful and abundant season.
Before I know it, the rice fields are turning golden day by day, and there are also rice fields that have been harvested.
As Christians, we must bear many beautiful fruits that the Lord is pleased with in our faith as we face this season.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will receive God's grace to the full as you listen to the Word of this hour today.<Amen!>
When people go through life, there are times when they are faced with a limiting situation that is really beyond what they can do. In this case, it will be different for each person, but depending on the will or mindset of the person, great results can appear. In this case, the weak person becomes frustrated and disappointed, then falls into depression and even commits suicide. But a strong-willed and strong-minded person struggles and tries to get through such a situation.
However, there are times when that effort is not enough. In times like these, we cannot overcome the situation without the strength of faith. Because human strength, will, economy, experience, and effort are limited. That is why, in such a case, you must have faith to trust in God. Only with the power of faith can we overcome difficult limiting situations. So the bible says
(Proverbs 16:3) “Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will come to pass.”
(Psalm 55:22) “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never allow the righteous to be moved.”
(Philippians 4:6) “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
(1 Peter 5:7) “Cast all your anxieties on the Lord, for he cares for you.”
Dear saints,
Today's text is about Elijah, the great prophet of the nation of Israel.
Elijah, a man of God, gained a great victory in faith on Mount Carmel and entered the city of Samaria, but was threatened by Queen Jezebel and escaped. Looking back on Elijah's life, he was hard-working and had the power of God, so he had never been discouraged before.
Elijah fought alone against the regime of Ahab and made a desperate effort to fight the enemy of 850 pagans. After ending this great history with a victory, I couldn't help but feel discouraged as I was attacked by a powerful enemy again with no time to rest. Elijah had no choice but to flee as he was pursued.
There was no special time in the history of the Old Testament like Elijah. At that time, there was a fierce battle between faith in God, the true religion, and Baal, the false religion. It is a time when the opposition between secularism and evangelicalism and between humanism and neo-capitalism reached its extreme. But on the other hand, it is also a time when the work of God's power was strongly demonstrated.
(Romans 5:20) “But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more… ”
Elijah, who was established in these times, stood at a point in time that decided the fate of the nation of Israel.
However, Elijah was also like us (James 5:17), so his faith was weak at times, he lost his courage, and at times he could not get out of despair and anxiety.
This was inevitable because the political oppression led by King Ahab and the evil schemes of false religionists with Jezebel as the self-proclaimed prophet led to an emergency that even put Elijah's life in jeopardy. However, this does not mean that God has left Elijah.
In every moment of crisis, he walked with Elijah by the power of God and gave him strength to give him victory. Queen Jezebel declared that she would take Elijah's life, and Elijah, discouraged, went out to Beersheba and left for a lonely refuge in the wilderness.
Elijah, weary and exhausted from walking for one day, fell under a rosemary tree, begging for death, and lamented, “It is enough, O LORD; take away my life now.” Elijah fell.
The victory of Mount Carmel was yesterday, but today we are in the depths of defeat and cry out to God.
“Take my life. I don't want to live.” He was so unprepared and weak that the predicament that came suddenly in this yard where the whole world trembled and feared his name after many splendid victories and successes.
The people who confessed, “The Lord is the true God” while looking at the burning altar on Mount Carmel, became corrupt overnight, and the crowds who followed him could not believe it.
Elijah, who was witnessing the living God by falling fire from heaven, escaped Jezebel's sword and went into exile. Elijah's heart ached and bitter.
The steps I took to climb Mount Carmel with a single stroke seemed to fly, but the steps on the way to exile were only painful.
Elijah, an aged, gray-haired man, sat down under a rosemary tree and said, “It is enough, O LORD; take my life now. I am no better than my forefathers.” In despair, he fell under a tree and fell into a tired sleep.
The wrinkled face records Israel's sorrow, the gray hair and beard show allegiance to the Lord, and the frayed skin describes the life of Gongo.
Elijah, a man of God, shouted only the right words of God, but the people did not follow him. All of his heart was turned toward Ahab and Jezebel. The prophet's words are wretched. I predict the pastor's words from Elijah's appearance like this. There are many people who spend their lives uttering only the word of God and spend their last years of retirement miserable because they have no place to come and nowhere to go without the wealth they have accumulated.