Its been a pretty good day today. It has been an up and down week for me personally, though. I have no logical explanation as to why I've been so moody over the past couple of days. I've wanted to get out of the house and do something every night but with little to no resources to spark some action.
This got me thinking about the devotion material that I'm producing for our student ministry trip to Asheville coming up on the 29th called Top to Bottom. We're doing a 4-part study on Elijah's stage of life through 1 Kings 18-19. We'll see moments where he's praising God and then other times destraut, asking God, "Where are you?!" He goes from jubilation to depression in a heartbeat and back. This study is to show that Christians are not different in the way that we have highs and lows, just like everyone else. With God all moods are possible. And God can handle it because he created those emotions.
This is where we start...
In 1 Kings 18 God lets him know that there's going to be a drought. He is told to drink from a brook. It gets worse, the brook dries up. Then God has ravens to feed him, but that only lasts for a little while. God tells him to go into the town and ask this widow for food. She has just enough for one meal for him, her and her son, but just like the bread loaves and fish the oil and flour last for much longer than that.
But it gets worse. The son gets really sick and dies. The widow is hysterical and blames Elijah for his death. First he's starving and now being called a killer. Imagine the crap he's feeling. (This is the "bottom" per se). Elijah cries out to God, asking him, "why did you take this woman's son?"
And it's my firm conviction that God doesn't just kill people to make some other people learn their lesson. Did God kill thousands of people in New Orleans to prove a point? Or do we consider the Earth as being a victim of the Fall, too? Oh yeah, the Earth does produce thickets and thorns because of humanity's sin, doesn't it? If the Earth makes thorns because of a couple people's sin, then it will make hurricanes when you multiply sin. Makes sense. Its mighty funny that people want to blame God for humanity's sin!
Did God kill thousands in the World Trade Centers just because New Yorkers are in the center of attention and particularly evil? Or do we consider the relatively small number of radical Islamic extremists to be completely insane? So, it was God's plan for a plane's fuel to incinerate people in a high-rise building before the world's eyes? NO, that was the terrorists' plan! The devil has temporal success, right? But not for long...
Anyway.....sorry to rant. But God hears Elijah's prayer and brings the son back to life. Satan has no victory here because God is the only one that can actually GIVE life. Immediately after that, Elijah must've been on the highest high. All the crap he just went through was worth it because, think about it, it all lead him to be the avenue for healing to this boy. Amazing!
Like life as we know it...Elijah's emotional state was not constant. Check out what happens next when I share with you part II!
