Carrying the Gift
The book of 1 Kings 17 begins an interesting passage of Elijah the Tishbite, one the greatest and most powerful prophets of the Old Testament. His name alone meant “Yayweh is God”. It begins in verse 1 telling us of the events that begin a sequence of miracles and finally landing on the undeniable acknowledgment of God Almighty (Isn’t that just like God?). Now, Elijah was a chosen prophet of God, most often seen as a giant in his faith and full of courage. BUT, as strong, courageous, faithful, and obedient as he was, like all of us, he wilted in his faith, panicked in his situation, and ….YES, RAN (and ran and ran and ran). Elijah, the anointed, chosen prophet of God who just exhibited great and mighty miracles by the hand of God, panicked and ran! Now, most of us look at that and ask ourselves, “what in sweet Jesus name was Elijah thinking? How could a man chosen directly by God, seen before men as the voice of God, run?” We see in chapter 19 that King Ahab (probably with both amazement and fear in his voice) has told Jezebel all of what Elijah the prophet had performed. (I encourage you to read through 1 Kings 17-19 to fully see the picture here). Without going back to the beginning with too much detail Jezebel was a manipulating Baal fanatic who hated the worship of Jehovah and who passionately persecuted the Lord’s prophets. Jezebel’s reaction to all of this…..”Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. And when he saw that, (this is when Elijah picked up and flew the coop-The Sheryl translation) he arose and ran for his life…” (1 Kings 19:2-3). Yes, our mighty man of God RAN! He ran approximately 25 miles!! Yes, nearly a marathon. (It’s not like he was training in his free time for this…he ran out of fear!) Now, let’s just stop here. Before we go getting all up on poor Elijah, let’s maybe look a little deeper. Each one of us, yes YOU, has a gift, a skill, and passion that we carry. It’s like being pregnant….you carry that baby until the time has come for the birth of that miracle, that GIFT. It’s there whether we acknowledge it or not! Elijah knew his calling and yet still ran in fear. He had already experienced the overwhelming hand of God in many ways!! Yet, he ran. We all have fear in some area. We all carry our calling….even if we run long (25 miles), hard, and fast….guess what….when you stop….you, your calling and your gifts are still there!! God does not retract his divine plan he has placed upon you. It will forever be there….like it or not! So, let’s be wise and learn a really powerful, important lesson here…..You are carrying a calling, a gift that God wants and expects you to use…..don’t waste your time running…don’t waste your time in fear….just jump in with both feet KNOWING that your heavenly Father has you and every single detail of that gift! Matthew 6:33 tells us, “Seek first the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need”. He will give you the courage, the wisdom, the strength, and fortitude to run ….but run to Him not from Him and His plan for you!!
