When Elijah faced off against the prophets of Baal, it wasn't just a test of faith; it was an epic showdown that ended in a spiritual high unlike any other. Yet, what followed was an unexpected plunge into despair that even the strongest believers can relate to. In our latest episode, we wade through the ebbs and flows of the prophet's spiritual journey, from the pinnacle of Mount Carmel to the desolation beneath the broom tree, offering a candid look at the complexities of faith and the reality of spiritual depression.
Amidst the turbulence of Elijah's life, a serene encounter unfolds on Mount Horeb, where God's presence is revealed in a gentle whisper rather than earth-shattering events. This powerful narrative prompts us to reconsider where and how we seek divine interactions in our own lives. We share insights on the importance of Scripture as a guide to hearing God's voice and recount a personal story that exemplifies the profound and often understated ways in which the Bible offers direction and comfort.
As we mark a decade of ministry, reflection on the path we've walked brings both humility and celebration. We might not have filled arenas, but the deep, individual transformations we've witnessed are no less significant. Join us as we recount the true impact of our work—transforming lives, supporting the homeless, and spreading the message of faith. Whether you're in Richmond, Kentucky, or tuning in online, we invite you to connect with our community and share in the journey that's unfolded over the past ten years.
When Elijah faced off against the prophets of Baal, it wasn't just a test of faith; it was an epic showdown that ended in a spiritual high unlike any other. Yet, what followed was an unexpected plunge into despair that even the strongest believers can relate to. In our latest episode, we wade through the ebbs and flows of the prophet's spiritual journey, from the pinnacle of Mount Carmel to the desolation beneath the broom tree, offering a candid look at the complexities of faith and the reality of spiritual depression.
Amidst the turbulence of Elijah's life, a serene encounter unfolds on Mount Horeb, where God's presence is revealed in a gentle whisper rather than earth-shattering events. This powerful narrative prompts us to reconsider where and how we seek divine interactions in our own lives. We share insights on the importance of Scripture as a guide to hearing God's voice and recount a personal story that exemplifies the profound and often understated ways in which the Bible offers direction and comfort.
As we mark a decade of ministry, reflection on the path we've walked brings both humility and celebration. We might not have filled arenas, but the deep, individual transformations we've witnessed are no less significant. Join us as we recount the true impact of our work—transforming lives, supporting the homeless, and spreading the message of faith. Whether you're in Richmond, Kentucky, or tuning in online, we invite you to connect with our community and share in the journey that's unfolded over the past ten years.
The following resource is brought to you by Real Life Community Church in Richmond, Kentucky. We hope you're both challenged and encouraged by this message from Pastor Chris May.
Speaker 2:I'm reading from 1 Kings, chapter 19, verses 1 through 18, in the ESV version Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying so may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow. Then he was afraid and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down upon a broom tree and he asked that that he might die, saying it is enough Now, o Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my father's. And he lay down and slept under a broom tree and, behold, an angel touched him and said to him Arise and eat. He looked and there, behold, behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the lord came again a second time and touched him and said arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.
Speaker 2:He arose and ate and drank and went, in the strength of that food, 40 days and 40 nights, to Horeb, the mount of God. There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him and he said to him what are you doing here, elijah? He said I've been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left and they seek my life to take it away. And he said go out and stand on the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by and a great and. And he said, the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, the sound of a low whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and he went out.
Speaker 2:And he stood at the entrance of the cave and behold, there came a voice to him and said what are you doing here, elijah? He said I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. And I even, I only, am left, and they seek my life to take it away. And the Lord said to him go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you arrive, you shall anoint Haziel to be king over Syria, and Jehu, the son of Nipshi, you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha, the son of Shaphath of Abel-Mahala you shall anoint to be prophet in your place, and the one who escapes from the sword of Haziel shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.
Speaker 3:Thank you, that makes me sad. That hasn't happened in a long time. All right, yeah, the book of 1 Kings. It's going to be a lot more difficult without my headset.
Speaker 3:In 1 Kings 19, we come to a tragic part in the story of the great prophet Elijah. Most of you, if you've been around church any time, you know the name Elijah. In our text, this man of God is frustrated, he is spent, he is despondent, he is tired, he is broken. And I remind you again, this is a man of God. He's so bad off, in fact, that I don't know if you caught it in the text, but he cries out to God and he says God, just kill me, just take my life. Life's not even worth living.
Speaker 3:And so Elijah is in a state that theologians have come to call spiritual depression. We're not talking about a mental health disorder here, but we're talking about a state that every Christian is susceptible to. It's called spiritual depression, and I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but we have examples of that throughout the Bible. As a matter of fact, later on, go read Psalm 42 and you'll see what I'm talking about. Spiritual depression it's those times when you're doing everything you know to do. I mean, you are praying, you are fasting, you are reading your Bible, you are going to church, you're having devotions with your family, you are giving generously, you are serving the poor, on and on and on, but yet Christian joy seems to be nowhere. Your life seems to be void of what you once felt. Life seems to be void of what you once felt. You feel as if you're going through the motions, like you go to church, but you're not feeling it, and you feel as if God could be a million miles away. What we see in our text today is really good news that even when we don't see him, he's working. Even when I don't feel him, he's working. He never stops. He never stops working. So what we find in the text is that God graciously meets us in those times of spiritual depression. He does that for Elijah, and so if you're going through something like that today, I want you to know you're in really good company. You don't have to feel bad about it. You're in really good company and the good news is you don't have to stay there. God can and will bring you out, amen.
Speaker 3:So let me just give you a little bit of historical backdrop here. At this point in Israel's story, the people of God have fallen into this hyper backslidden state. I mean, they're worshiping false gods. They're living very loosely, contrary to God's word, his law. They're being ruled by a wicked king by the name of Ahab, who is married to the infamous Jezebel. Hopefully you didn't name your kid after Jezebel, that'd just be cruel. Jezebel is notorious for being manipulative and just horrendous lady. She is controlling, she wants to overpower her husband and she is known, along with Ahab, for the promotion of the false Phoenician god, baal.
Speaker 3:And so, in chapter 18, elijah seems to have had enough. So we back up one chapter. Elijah's had enough. You ever just? I mean, you see what's going on around you, you see the way people are living, and you just snap at some point. And Elijah just has one of those watershed moments. He says enough's enough, we're going to see who the real god is here. You remember the story. And so this is just back one chapter and elijah challenges the 450 prophets of baal. Elijah is the only prophet of God left. Jezebel has had every other prophet executed and Elijah's like all right, enough's enough, I'm going to lay all my cards on the table. Meet me at Mount Carmel, where everybody can see it. We're not going to do this in a secret room. I alone, excuse me. I alone with my God, the one triune God, yahweh, we will go against you, your God, baal, and his 450 prophets. So it doesn't seem to these pagan people it doesn't seem like much of a challenge 450 against one. So you probably know the story.
Speaker 3:The summary is this Essentially, elijah builds an altar there are actually two altars built, one for Baal, one for Elijah and Elijah digs a ditch around his altar, right, he put the sacrifice on top of wood and then he added stones and then he filled the dish with water. Now all the Baal prophets, all they had was an altar with a sacrifice on it, and he said you know what Home court advantage, you go first kind of thing, right. And so they start, these pagan people, they start calling upon their God. They are so distraught because he's not answering, because new, slash, false gods will not answer you, and this goes on for hours and hours and hours. And they start dancing and doing all kinds of crazy things, shouting out, even cutting themselves, the scripture says to try to get their God's attention. Woo-hoo, you know, bell, you see us.
Speaker 3:And the challenge was let's see who can call fire down from heaven, whose God will come and consume the sacrifice? But upon hours and hours and hours of all these rituals, the 450 prophets of Baal saw nothing, heard nothing from their God. So Elijah says give me a turn. And so again, remember. He had the altar, the wood, he had stones, and then he had this trench dug and he had water poured on the sacrifice three times, like if you want to start a fire, you don't lap it with water. But that's what he does. And Elijah calls upon Yahwehweh, the one true and living God, and not as only does God consume the sacrifice, but he consumes the wood that the fire even makes. The rocks begin to disintegrate, the stones are this fire Beloved. It is clear on this day that there is only one God, there is only one true and living God, and he is omnipotent, he is all-powerful, he is sovereign, and 450 prophets cannot stand against one of his. That's a victory. That'll shut some people up, amen. So that's what happens.
Speaker 3:That's chapter 18. So can we agree? That's a victory, all right? Well, now look with me at our text, chapter 19. Look at verse 4. It says Elijah went a day's journey into the wilderness and came, and he sat down under a broom tree You've seen these right Branches with brooms hanging off of them and he asked. He asked that he might die. Now do you find this odd? I mean he just had a victory. I mean you'd think he'd be on the top of the world kind of thing. He says Lord, just kill me, it's enough, now Take away my life, for I'm no better than my father's.
Speaker 3:So Elijah moves quickly from a place of celebration to a place of despondency, and I think that's easy to do. Why would he move here? Why would he take on this state of being? Well, I think there's at least two reasons quickly. Number one he's exhausted. Some of you look exhausted this morning. Smile at me. Let me make sure you're alive, all right.
Speaker 3:So he's just defeated 450 prophets of Baal and though it's a victory, it's still exhausting. Like I feel this after every Sunday that I preach People, somebody every Sunday will ask me after service Chris, you okay, what's wrong? What's wrong? And I'm like I just preached and sang and did a dance, and you know whatever, and and counseled and this and I it's, it was a win, but it's exhausting and many of you have had wins in your life. You've had. You've had challenges that you've overcome and though, but those turned out to be victories. How many know they can still be exhausting? Those turned out to be victories. How many know they can still be exhausting?
Speaker 3:But you add to that what happens to Elijah here? After this exhausting victory, he gets no reprieve, he gets no time to celebrate because immediately he gets word, jezebel's going to kill you. She's out for your life. Are you kidding me, lord? Like me a break? Have you ever felt like this? It's like you can't catch a break. It's one battle after another battle after another battle. That's exhausting. I'm not the only one that's been there.
Speaker 3:Life is that way sometimes, and it can cause this state of spiritual depression when we feel like God's not hearing us, that he's a million miles away, and it removes every ounce of Christian joy from our lives. And then there's another reason for his spiritual depression here, and that would be we could call it unmet expectations, verse 6,. And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. So chapter 18 ends with this verse that Elijah goes to the place of Jezreel. Now, why is that important? Well, that's the capital. That's where Ahab's palace is. Ahab and Jezebel reside there. So 450 prophets of Baal defeated, and Elijah says, all right, I'm going to the capital, I'm going to the palace. Why would he do that? There's only one reasonable explanation.
Speaker 3:Elijah thinks that, after seeing this great victory on Mount Carmel, that one of two things are going to happen. One, he thinks all right, jezebel and Ahab are going to see that they're leading people to worship a false god. They're going to see they have seen the wrath of God as he destroyed 450 of their prophets and they will repent and turn to him. Or, if they don't, the people will be smart enough now to impeach these folks. They'll run them out of town. But he gets there and neither one of those things happens. The people of Israel, their hearts are still hardened. Think about that. And Ahab and Jezebel don't repent. They only dig their heels in deeper. You talk about frustrating.
Speaker 3:After all this work, you know, elijah begins to wonder has all my ministry, my hours of labor, my blood, my sweat, my tears, has it all been for nothing? Have you ever wondered that? You know? Let me ask this Maybe you've done all that you can to raise your kids in the admonition of the Lord, but now they're not serving God. Or maybe you've given generously throughout your Christian life but you're still struggling to make ends meet. Or maybe you've poured into some ministry and you're putting hours in of study and preparation but nobody's showing up and nobody's taking it seriously. And you wonder, has all of this been in vain? Beloved, that can cause this state of spiritual depression. So the bad news is that most of us will at some point experience these things. But the good news again I want to stress God can and will bring us out Amen.
Speaker 3:So what is Elijah's reaction to his bout of spiritual depression here? What does he do? He goes into the wilderness and he gets alone with God. And I just tell you, god-centered rest is so vital to our lives. This is what he does. He doesn't hide from the Lord. He runs to God in honest prayer, in honest prayer, and he tells the Lord Lord, I want to die. Do you know? You can be honest with the Lord. He already knows your heart anyways.
Speaker 3:We need to quit pretending to be more spiritual than we are sometimes and we just need to say Lord, I don't feel like my ministry is of any worth at all. Lord, I don't feel like I was treated properly here. I'm not saying I know the Bible warns against complaining and grumbling, but I'm talking about the moments when we are utterly broken that we just need to be honest and say, lord, I can't go on another moment unless you touch me. Lord, this is not what I expected and I need your touch. When crises come, when depression comes, you have one of two choices you can either run to God or you can run from God. I would encourage you, strongly recommend that you run to the Lord in those times. Amen, we must run to him in prayer.
Speaker 3:So I want us to consider God's response to Elijah's prayer, his calling upon the Lord. Elijah desperately needs God's presence. He needs to hear his voice and I want you to see how God responds. God is so amazing. Look how God responds. Number one God ministers to Elijah practically. He ministers to him practically. This is the starting point.
Speaker 3:Let's just look here at verses 5 through 7. It says and Elijah lay down and slept under a broom tree and behold, an angel touched him. This is where they get the show Touched by an Angel. You ever seen it? Yeah, the angel touched him and said to him Arise and eat. And he looked, looked and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones. That's some warm bread, that's like a texas road house biscuit, you know. Roll right out of the oven right here and a jar of water and he ate and he drank and he lay down again. I love this.
Speaker 3:I want you to notice what God does not do. Elijah is frustrated. He is actually. If you read this in context, you'll see I don't have time to unpack this now but he seems a little bit frustrated with God himself. He says Lord, I've been jealous for you and nothing's happened. Where you at, god, you ever felt that way, god? Where you at? So like? That's a scary place to be when you start questioning God.
Speaker 3:But what I love here is that God doesn't come down and give him a sermon. God doesn't give him a lecture here I'm talking about first right. He doesn't come and say Elijah, you should have prayed more, elijah, you should have done this and this and this. What does he do? He gives him a touch and he gives him food, he cooks for him, he ministers to his practical needs. Listen, I know the Bible says that we do not live by bread alone, but we also do not live without bread. And we need to be careful as Christians that we don't spiritualize everything, because sometimes well-meaning believers will talk to someone who is depressed and they're broken, and here's where you'll start. Well, you just need to pray more. Well, that's not untrue, but that's like kicking someone while they're down. Well, I'm just really broken. Well, you missed church last week. Well, say that to them. But, um, you know, guys, listen, we, we need to, we need to minister to the practical needs of people, to the practical needs of people.
Speaker 3:Can I just be brutally honest? There's some people in my life whom I love and they have great intentions, but they drive me nuts because you can't talk to them. And I love the scriptures, but you can't talk to them without them giving you a verse. There's times I don't need a verse. I need you to cook me a meal. There's times I don't need a verse. I need you to cook me a meal. There's times I don't need a verse, I just need to put your you to put your arm around me. There's times that I don't need a verse, I just need to walk by the beach or I need to sleep in, so on and and so forth, and I'm not making light of. You know how much I love God's word, but I'm saying there are times in our life that people will come to us and the first thing they need is not a sermon. They need your love, they need your touch, they need your food. Come on, they need Dina's brownies, right? I mean, think about that. I love this about God.
Speaker 3:Listen, we are whole beings. We are spiritual beings, yes, but we are physical beings and we are psychological beings. We are spiritual beings, yes, but we are physical beings and we are psychological beings. Okay, we have a psychological part to us, a spiritual part and a physical part, and here's what I want you to see those parts of our being are not disconnected, not disconnected. You know what? Here's the thing, elijah, he is exhausted physically, he has not slept enough, he has not eaten enough, and you say, well, that's just his body. What's that matter? Well, because what you do to your body impacts your spiritual man as well, your spiritual man as well, and it impacts your emotional being. And we know the reverse is true.
Speaker 3:Remember when I preached a few weeks ago on one of the Psalms of David, and David was living in sin at one point in his life. He's recalling this moment and he says that when I kept my sin to myself, in other words, when I didn't repent, he says my bones ached and my couch was drenched with tears Night and day, I groaned. So David had a spiritual problem, but that's because David is a whole being. His spiritual problem caused a physical problem and caused an emotional problem. Do you get what I'm saying? So I just want to tell you, friends, take care of yourselves, not just spiritually, but physically and emotionally. Get sleep, eat right, exercise, because all of those parts of your being are connected I am a living testimony to that.
Speaker 3:And so, god, ministers, I love it to the very practical needs of Elijah. We can cast our cares upon him because he cares for us Every need. It may be minute to you, it's not minute to God. He cares about everything you're going through this morning. So, god ministers, to Elijah, practically. Number two God listens to Elijah lovingly. You know if you read through chapter 19, who do you think does most of the talking? It's Elijah. God asked Elijah two questions and he gives a response. But Elijah, I mean, think of this. God asked Elijah questions so interesting. The Lord listens to us, he hears us and he responds to Elijahijah's questions or his elijah's answers. God actually cares about what we have to say, even when we're wrong.
Speaker 3:I've told you this before and I say proudly and I say this to encourage you to all get a therapist as well but I go to therapy one time a week or one time a month, and here's the only reason I go, and I have to pay somebody to do this, but it's the only time that I get an hour with somebody and they'll listen to me without interruption. Well, I guess I do that kind of every Sunday, I guess, but I get to just say whatever, I can be ADD, I can be all over the place, whatever, and he listens to him. A good therapist talks very little, but a good therapist, yes, he gives you some directions or she gives you some direction, but a good therapist will listen intently. How many of y'all have children and you say, man, I just wish you'd listen to. Can I tell you something? Your kids wish you'd listen to them as well, not just say I'm the parent, you be quiet. No, listen Doesn't mean you have to do everything they say, but listen to them. Hey, that's your graduation gift. I saw you lean over to your dad, the first peter, 3, 12, for the eyes of the lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers. Beloved God hears us when we pray. God listens to Elijah lovingly. Thirdly, god reveals himself to Elijah. Graciously, elijah, I don't know if you caught this.
Speaker 3:He went from this wilderness place to a place called Oreb or Horeb, the Mount of God. Do you know that? Horeb is another name for anybody know Sinai? It's another name for Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai was a place where Moses met the Lord. God revealed his glory to Moses there, he gave the Ten Commandments there, and that is the place where Elijah is called to meet with God. Matter of fact, he put himself up in a cave there and the word translated cave. Scholars tell us it's in the Hebrew, it's a very generic term and they think this could be translated cleft. Do you remember that Moses hid himself in the cleft of a rock? Scholars believe that it's quite possible that Elijah went to this same cleft to meet the Lord. And so he goes. He desires Elijah's broken and he desperately needs, desperately needs, a touch from the lord.
Speaker 3:Now. I love this part. This is interesting. This it's perplexing when you it seems kind of out of place here, like why did you include this here in this text? But it's awesome, watch this. So when elijah is in the cave, it says a great wind comes, but God is not in the wind. And then it says a great earthquake comes, but God is not in the earthquake. And then a great fire comes, but God's not in the fire.
Speaker 3:Now, did Elijah just pick a really bad day to go on vacation? I don't think so. I don't think so. Is it just a coincidence? Like he shows up, he's wanting to enjoy this beautiful mountain and it's like wind, earthquake, fire. It sounds like a normal day in Kentucky, doesn't it?
Speaker 3:It's interesting that it says these three elements occurred, these three storms happened, and yet god was not in any of them. Why say that? Well, you might remember that in job, chapter 38, god spoke to job through the whirlwind. God was in the wind, the whirlwind. God was in the wind, the whirlwind. You might remember in Acts what is it? Chapter 4?
Speaker 3:Remember, the disciples, peter and John particularly, were told by the Sanhedrin not to preach or teach in the name of Jesus, or else they'd lose their lives. And so what did they do? They got together, they had a prayer meeting and the Bible says there was this earthquake, the room shook and they were baptized in the Spirit again and they went out and preached the Word of God boldly. God was in the earthquake. And then what about the fire? Well, you remember Pentecost? Tongues of fire. Or what about Moses back in the book of Exodus, in the burning bush? God was in the fire. But here this is so interesting God's not. There's wind, but God's not in the wind. There is an earthquake, but God's not there. And there's a fire, but God's not in the fire. And there's a fire, but God's not in the fire. But the narrator tells us, then came a still small voice. That's where God was.
Speaker 3:Can I just tell you that God may not always show up in the way that you expect. There are times. Let's talk first about what we might call non-charismatic or non-Pentecostal people. They see things that go on in, maybe, charismatic churches and that are a little boisterous or demonstrative, and they think God's not in that. Well, I think that's a dangerous assumption. I've experienced those things and there's a lot of fake and there's a lot of counterfeit, but how many have experienced the demonstrative moves of God like that? On the other hand, pentecostals drive me crazy, because you think if somebody hadn't fallen to the floor, hung from the chandeliers, jumped the pews, you know, had blind-eyed heels, got out of a wheelchair, whatever, you haven't had church. Well, god just wasn't there today.
Speaker 3:Don't be so sure, Because God moves in many different ways, and I will say this because God moves in many different ways, and I will say this periodically. I still believe God moves in the wind and the fire and the earthquake from time to time, but do you know how? He most often moves? With a still small voice and, yes, in part it's the Holy Spirit. We all take His presence. Aren't you glad we don't have to go to Mount Sinai to meet the Lord? You can meet Him in your prayer closet, you can meet him at church, you can even meet him at Walmart. Come on, somebody that's a brave God right there, meet you at Walmart.
Speaker 3:The still small voice, yes, is the Holy Spirit, but here's what happens to Elijah. It says the word of the Lord came to him. It was a voice. We need the presence of God. What we need, though? You know what we need day by day, by day.
Speaker 3:It's really clear in the New Testament. How does the Lord speak to us Through this. We need day by day by day. It's really clear in the New Testament how does the Lord speak to us Through this? We need His Word. We need His Word. So today we might not see healing. Today nobody may jump in a baptistry or hang from the chandelier, nobody may roll on the floor, nobody may scream. You might not hear a word in tongues or prophecy or whatever, but if you've listened to what I've read out of this book, you have heard the Lord. If you want a word from the Lord, get your Bible. I believe in prophecy, I believe all those things, but the only sure way to hear from the Lord is to open this Bible and it is sufficient. If you never heard another prophetic word, this is enough. It's enough.
Speaker 3:I had a guy. I was pastoring in Tucson Arizona and had a guy come to me and he comes in my office. He buzzed downstairs and my office was upstairs. He runs up the stairs, he's a middle-aged man and he's out of breath. And I've never met this man before. He's never been to my church, as far as I know and he comes in.
Speaker 3:I was the only pastor available. So he comes in my office, he sits down. I said you know, have a seat on the other side of my desk here and he's trying to catch his breath. He says Pastor. I said what, sir? He said I'm confused. I said what do you mean you're confused? He, I'm confused. So what do you mean you're confused?
Speaker 3:He said, well, I go to this church and everybody's giving everybody words. And he said I had somebody tell me I needed to sell everything and the Lord told me to go to such and such country. And then I had somebody else the next week tell me that I had to do this ministry and they're contrary. And then somebody else told me this, and he looks at me in desperation. He goes, pastor, like he's trying a different church. Now I need a word. Look, pastor, give me a word. You know what I did. My Bible was right here on my desk. I'm just throwing stuff all over the place. That's how Pentecostal I am. Folks right there, um. He said I need a word. I slid my Bible across the desk to him. I said here's your word. And you know what I said. Here's your word. And you know what? He looked angry. This is not the word he wanted, but this is the word he needed.
Speaker 3:God speaks to us. He always speaks through his word. Spend time in it every day, all right. Finally, god corrects Elijah gently. I'm just going to, for time's sake, dina, would you mind to go ahead and come to the keys for me? God corrects Elijah graciously, gently. Here's what happens.
Speaker 3:So Elijah has worked hard in ministry. He's labored tirelessly for the Lord right. And he's looking around I don't know how big the tribes of Israel are at this time, but it's safe to say there are hundreds of thousands of Israelites and he's looking around at a people who are called to this covenant relationship with God, but they're not living in accordance with his covenant. And so he wants to die After this victory at Mount Carmel. Now nobody's repenting and he's like what's the point? Have you ever felt like that? What's the point? And so he says you know, in this prayer to God, there's essentially nobody living for you in Israel. I'm the only one left.
Speaker 3:But God does something at the very end, because Elijah said there's no prophets and people are not living according to your covenant. So God does two things. Number one he says I want you to anoint this new king. He gives him a king to anoint. He says I want you to anoint this new king. He gives him a king to anoint and he said I want you to anoint a new prophet by the name of Elisha, because Elijah feels as though the world hangs upon his, you know, sits upon his shoulders, like God's purposes are dependent upon him, it's up to me. And that kind of weight will crush you, like if you feel like the world is dependent upon you, like God's promises are dependent upon you, the revival is dependent upon you. That's a weight none of us can bear. So God corrects Elijah and he reminds him listen, I've got other people I can call. I'm sovereign, I'm the one who can work. You can't change a nation. I can. You've been a mouthpiece for me. So he corrects him. But he does something else here.
Speaker 3:As far as correction, elijah thinks his ministry has been completely ineffective. But God says something. He says he mentioned 7,000 people who have not bowed their knees to Baal. So, elijah, there's hundreds of thousands of Israelites. And when you, when you face battle after battle, like Elijah has, sometimes, it's hard to see the good and all you can see is the negative. And he thinks I'm useless, nobody I've preached, I've had battles with false gods and Lord, nobody's listening. And the Lord says actually, elijah, there's 7,000 people whose lives have been touched. Can I just encourage somebody to tell you today? You may not think that anybody sees what you're doing. You may not think that you've made a difference your prayers, your encouragements, your ministry but I want you to know you may not know until heaven how many people that you've touched, and the Lord in this. You know. When you're spiritually depressed, you just feel worthless, right. But God says oh no, your ministry has been more effective than you think. I don't know what you're dealing with today, but I just want to encourage you to rest in the Lord, pray, be in the word, be honest with God and watch him move.
Speaker 3:I am, as Matthew mentioned earlier, as of Wednesday I am going on a 40 day sabbatical and that's planned. Nothing's wrong that I know of. If there is something wrong, pastor Ben can fix it. But listen, I've learned this it is not wise to wait until you're depressed or despondent to spend an extended time with the Lord. Listen, before I get to that place of total burnout, I'm tired, don't get me wrong. Before I reach that place, it is my heart that man. I just want to spend time with the Lord and I try to do that on a daily basis, but ministers need to do this, sometimes for extended seasons. The disciples did it, the apostles did it, elijah did it, we can go on. Jesus did it, and so I want to thank you for allowing me this opportunity.
Speaker 3:Many people have asked me, or a few people have asked me are you coming back? I don't know if they're hopeful or, but yes, I completely plan to come back. There's not one thought in my mind. I never say never because I don't. You know, I'm going to do whatever God tells me to do, but that has nothing to do with why I'm taking this break, but we all need those seasons of refreshing.
Speaker 3:Much like Elijah, I'm getting ready to celebrate my 10-year anniversary and Elijah looked back at his ministry and he thinks nobody's caught on. I just say, if I look back 10 years ago, I thought at this point that we'd be meeting in Rupp Arena. That's not funny. I thought we'd be meeting in Rupp Arena. Um, that's not funny. Uh, I thought we'd be meeting in Rupp Arena and, yeah, I, just um matter of fact, a couple of weeks ago I I was talking with with one of our directors and I just, you know, I can't believe we haven't grown past this, and on and on and on.
Speaker 3:And the Lord just used this person and she looked at me and she just said well, look at all the lives that have been changed. And she started naming off people and she said what about this homeless ministry? And look at the people who have learned, who have been maybe taught wrong in some areas, and on and on and on. And it's not like bragging towards me, it's really about look what God has done, because I've put a lot in over 10 years, but I don't want to miss what he's done.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening. If you'd like to know more about how you can have a relationship with Jesus Christ, or if you have questions about our church, you can email us at info at myrealchurchorg. Real Life Community Church is located at 335 Glendon Avenue in Richmond, Kentucky. We invite you to join us for worship Sunday at 1045 am or Wednesday at 7 pm. Visit us online at myrealchurchorg.