(Justin Rose – Mayfair Community Church) – One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament comes from 1 Kings 18. God tells the prophet Elijah that he is tired of his people serving other gods. The Israelites were worshipping the god Baal, as was their king Ahab (and his wretched wife Jezebel); so God sent a drought on Israel. Elijah is instructed by God to take Ahab, the Israelites, and the 450 prophets of Baal to the top of Mount Carmel and says that whichever god (Baal or God) sends fire down from heaven is the true God. So the prophets of Baal went first. They took a bull and prayed to their god to send fire; they cried, danced, screamed, and even cut themselves, but nothing happened. So after many hours of this it was Elijah’s turn. He built an altar, took a bull, and poured twelve huge jars of water on it, to prove that God can do the impossible and show God’s provision since that was a lot of water to waste during a drought. Elijah then said a simple prayer and, of course, God sent fire down from heaven proving that he is the one true God. So the Israelites killed all the prophets of Baal, showing that they will no longer serve other gods, and proclaim “the LORD indeed is God.”
Immediately after this another amazing thing happens. Elijah prays another simple prayer to God and the three and a half year drought ends. A small cloud about the size of a hand started to come over the water and Elijah knew that this meant his prayer was answered. So he told King Ahab to get in his chariot and leave before the rain comes and the mud makes it impossible to pull the chariot.
After this, the Bible tells us that Elijah “girded up his loins” (KJV) and ran before the chariot of the King all the way to the city of Jezreel. I always thought that this meant that his hips got filled with gasoline or that the Flash took over his body for a second and he ran way faster than the horses and beat the king. I had the mental picture of roadrunner out running coyote by making his legs move so fast that it just looked like a blur.
But this is not actually what happened. In the time of Elijah it was customary for kings to have runners in front of the chariot to announce the king’s presence and clear any obstacles. Elijah, being from Gilead, had been trained to run like a marathon runner, and was showing his loyalty to the king as God’s anointed. He girded, or tied up, his robe so that he wouldn’t trip and fall on his face while running.
But the thing that I want to focus on is that verse 46 says the “power” (NIV) or the “hand” (KJV) of the Lord was upon Elijah. Elijah just had one of the longest days of his life. It must have been physically, emotionally, and spiritually draining. Elijah met with Ahab, summoned the people to Mount Carmel, watched the prophets of Baal humiliate themselves, then built an altar, watched God send fire from heaven, killed the 450 prophets of Baal, and then prayed up on the mountain for rain which would make a very long a draining day. Then at the end of that very same day he ran in front of a chariot, which was carried by horses, eighteen miles to Jezreel. That is a long and tiring day.
I know that Elijah must have wanted nothing else than to curl up under a tree and sleep. After running for about six minutes I have to stop and hold my side or else I feel like it is going to either fall apart or explode. But Elijah truly was strengthened by God to be able to do all that in one day. This shows us that God truly does strengthen his people, both physically and spiritually to be able to overcome great obstacles. Not only did Elijah have physical strength but he also had enough faith in God to back a king that up until a few hours ago was serving a different god. In the New Testament, Paul writes “For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13, NLT). When the hand of God is upon you, all things are possible.
Several years ago I was a counselor at a Salvation Army camp and there was a certain teen in my cabin who was open about the fact that he did drugs, had sex, and did not care about God. This was hard for us counselors to hear, so we started to pray for the young man and asked God to give us the words to say. We prayed faithfully for him and half way through the week he believed on Jesus and was saved. This made us ecstatic and we thanked God for what he had done. A few days later the young man came to me and said, “I had this when I came to camp, but I’m different now. God doesn’t want me to have this.” and he handed me a bag of marijuana. The hand of God came upon this new Christian and he realized that he now had the strength to be different and make a conscious choice to change the way he was living.
When the Hand of God is upon us we can do amazing things. Jesus even told us that we would do greater things than he himself has done (John 14:12). With God’s Hand comes his power to do all things (Matthew 19:26). God has sent his power to the weak so that the world will see his glory. Elijah was weak, but the Lord made him strong. I know he can do the same in your life and mine.