“Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the LORD arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.” Malachi 4: 5, NLT.
Heavenly Father, our hearts rejoice as we come into Your presence. We pray that what we learn sitting at Your feet we will take into our daily lives, and live out for Your glory; in the blessed name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
Today we continue with the story of “Elijah [a man who] was as human as we are” (James 5: 17, NLT); who God called, and equipped, to go and do a special work in His name. Yesterday we ended on the note where God and Elijah were having a talk. Twice God asked Elijah what he was doing there in a cave. Twice Elijah answered God, saying that he had been very zealous for the LORD, and as a consequence his life was in danger. He also added, that he was the only one of his kind (faithful) left in all of Israel.
Between the first and the second time God asks Elijah the same question, He invites him to come out of the cave, and to stand upon the mountain before Him. It would seem that before Elijah could come out of the cave, God allows him to witness a display of His might, and His love. Like Elijah, many of us are very “zealous” for the LORD; to the point that we forget, whose work we are doing, and who is responsible for the outcome of the work. I wonder if at that point Elijah had forgotten whose power had caused fire to come down from heaven and consume the rocks, and the wood; lick up the water, and devour the sacrifice?
Perhaps one of the greatest temptations that ministers of the gospel face, is the temptation to believe that they have the power to bring about conviction; or the ability to convert souls. They face the temptation to believe that they are the authors of great spiritual revivals, or that in their power we can bring about reform. When we lose sight of Who called us, and bid us to, “Go preach My Gospel,” we are in danger of fearing those who threaten us. We will be in danger of abandoning the work and fleeing, at a time when God is depending on us to strengthen those that are weak and ready to perish. The danger exists that we will begin to believe that we are the only faithful ones left.
Therefore, God sometimes decides to give us a demonstration of His limitless power; alongside the “sheer silence” (“still small voice”) of His marvelous love! Sometimes He must remind us of Who, not merely where, the fire came from. He must allow us to see, that there is as much, or more, power, in the silence of love; as in the “earthquake, wind, and fire!”
When we “cover our faces” in awe of His glorious presence, then He sends us forth with a renewed vision of His glory, fresh in our minds, to go and finish the work that we were called to do. Now He can make us aware that all along He had seven thousand faithful ones, who had never bowed their knees to Baal, or kissed him (1 Kings 19: 18).
In Jesus’ day, the “spirit of Elijah” was manifested in John the Baptist (Matthew 11: 11-14). Today, God is seeking for men and women, who will be willing to speak His truth in love, and leave the results with Him. He is calling for those who are not seeking the approval of human beings, but the favor of God. My friends, may we be willing to listen for “the still small voice” of God, and by His grace, go forth in the “spirit of Elijah,” and filled with the Holy Spirit of God, to preach a message of reformation and revival, before the glorious appearing of Jesus, our Savior, Lord, and King!