Jul 29, 2024
You’ve done everything right. You heard God’s command and followed it, but things haven’t turned out the way you expected them to. What’s going on? Join host Julie Harwick for an incredible biblical teaching on Dealing With Disappointment.
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Welcome to Women World Leaders podcast. I’m your host, Julie Harwick. Thank you for joining me today as we celebrate God’s grace in our lives, in this ministry and around the world.
Karen was about to make the biggest mistake of her life. We’d gotten close in our high school youth group and she was a somewhat new, but very passionate believer. We’d talked a lot within our group about seeking God and honoring Him in our romantic relationships. But now that we were in college, Karen was in love and none of the principles we had committed ourselves to seemed to matter anymore. We were all home on Christmas break and Karen had invited us to her wedding which was to take place the following weekend. She had met a Palestinian guy who was at the university on a student visa. He didn’t want to go to school anymore, but he wanted to stay in the U.S. so his best solution was to get married. At the ripe old age of 20, she was certain that God had brought this man into her life to be the husband that she had always dreamed of and that their only hope to be together was for her to marry him immediately. One friend, who was especially close to her, had tried to convince her that marrying him now was a bad idea, but Karen simply refuted every argument. A larger group of us got together to discuss the situation and seek God’s direction. Karen’s fiance’ was not a believer, and she was currently living with him, so those were two issues that we could confront with scripture.
Matthew 18:15 also told us 5 “Now if your brother sins[k], go and [l]show him his fault [m]in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that on the [n]testimony of two or three witnesses every [o]matter may be confirmed, “ We all felt strongly that if we truly cared about Karen, God would have us talk to her about the poor decisions she had already made and the even larger one she was about to make. We looked up and discussed all the relevant scriptures so we’d have a biblical basis for our arguments, and we spent time praying that God would prepare her to really hear us and recognize that what we were saying was coming from love for her and not judgement. We prayed that our own hearts would be right as we did it and that something good might even come of it.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. Her fiancé was there, which made it particularly awkward, and both of their defenses were up. We suggested that they at least wait to get married since they had known each other for such a short time, hadn’t met each other’s families and had so many cultural differences. We asked how they would support themselves since neither had a decent paying job and weren’t even close to earning a degree. They had answers, though not very good ones, for everything. We reminded her of what the bible said about living with someone you’re not married to and marrying an unbeliever. The whole conversation was civil, but tense. When we had covered every issue and it was clear that she was not receptive to anything we had to say, she thanked us for our concern, and we wished them the best and made our exit. We all shared a very deep sense of discouragement as we left. The last thing I heard about Karen was that she had moved to Gaza with him. I often wonder what her life has been like and what it might have been.
So why did it have to turn out that way? Were we not faithful to do everything God would have us do? Going into it, we were confident that if we handled the situation according to scripture, God would work a miracle. Couldn’t we look at it sort of like a formula? God’s power + our obedience= a good outcome. But in God’s economy, there are no formulas. Only faith.
The prophet Elijah is a perfect example. First Kings 17 and 18 contain an epic story of how God proved His superiority over any other god in an unmistakable way. If you’re familiar with any of the kings of Israel, one probably stands out because he’s part of the worst power couple the nation ever knew. Ahab and Jezebel were narcissistic, egotistical and just plain evil. Not only did they lead the people to worship other gods, but they saw the prophet Elijah as the bane of their existence. Ahab referred to him as, “the troubler of Israel” and Jezebel set out to kill all the true prophets in the country and nearly succeeded. First Kings 16:33 tells us that Ahab did more to provoke the Lord to anger than all the kings of Israel who came before him.
Elijah had the unenviable task of warning Ahab that the entire country would be punished with 3 ½ years of drought because of his sin. As the end of the drought approached God told Elijah to inform the king that he needed to assemble all of Israel on the top of Mt. Carmel, along with all 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Ashera. Ahab complied and Elijah set the stage for the greatest showdown in Israel’s history.
Verse 21 says, “Elijah challenged the people: How long are you going to sit on the fence? If God is the real God, follow Him. If it’s Baal, follow him. Make up your minds!” He then instructed the prophets of Baal to set up an altar and prepare an ox for a sacrifice. He would do the same, but neither he nor they could light a fire. They would each pray to their god and the one who ignited and consumed the sacrifice would prove to be the true god.
The prophets of Baal prayed all morning long, but nothing happened. By noon, Elijah began to mock them, suggesting that Baal didn’t answer because he was sleeping or too busy, possibly on vacation or maybe even occupied using the toilet. As more time passed, they became more desperate, finally resorting to cutting themselves as a sacrifice until they were covered with blood. But still, there was absolutely no response from Baal. At this point, Elijah declared that their time was up, and he would prepare his sacrifice. The crowd was mystified when he dug a large trench all around the altar and commanded that four buckets of water be poured over the sacrifice and the wood until both were drenched and the trench was filled with water. Rather than performing mystical rituals or cutting himself, Elijah simply prayed, “Oh God, God of Abraham, Issac and Israel, make it known right now that You are God in Israel, that I am Your servant and I’m doing what I’m doing under Your orders. Answer me God and reveal to this people that You are God, the true God and that You are giving these people another chance at repentance.” Verse 38 tells us that immediately the fire of God fell and completely consumed the offering – even licking up every drop of water in the trench! The people fell on their faces in worship and declared, “God is the true God!” He instructed the people to capture the prophets of Baal and execute them. He suggested that King Ahab eat and drink in celebration because the Lord was about to send rain. Everyone did exactly as they were instructed. Elijah climbed to the peak of the mountain and began to pray for rain. Seven times he sent his servant to look toward the sea for signs of rain. On the seventh try, the servant reported a very small cloud, no bigger than a human hand. Elijah sent him to warn Ahab that he’d better head home quickly before the coming rain stopped him. Immediately the sky grew dark, the winds picked up and 3 ½ years’ worth of rain began to fall. God supernaturally empowered Elijah to run like no one has ever run before or since. The chapter closes with Elijah overtaking and running ahead of Ahab’s chariot all the way to the palace.
What a day for Elijah, right? His prophecies all came true. He was completely vindicated. God showed up in a way no one could deny. The people all acknowledged that He was the one true God and destroyed every false prophet with zeal. Desperately needed rain fell in abundance and Elijah outran a team of horses for miles and miles! God’s power + Elijah’s obedience had completely turned things around! Or had it?
Ahab lost no time in bringing Jezebel up to speed on all that had transpired. But her focus was not at all on the miraculous events that had just occurred, but on her beloved 450 prophets of Baal who had just been eliminated. She immediately sent a messenger to Elijah informing him that by the next day, he’d be as dead as any of those prophets.
Elijah had been on a spiritual high that we can only begin to imagine. After years of misery, he had finally come out on top and more importantly, God had used him to bring Israel to repentance! It was as if the day’s events had steadily inflated a giant balloon of hope for Elijah, but this message from Jezebel was a pin that unexpectedly popped and completely deflated that balloon. He and his servant immediately fled to neighboring Judah. He left his servant and went a day’s journey into the desert. Taking shelter under a bush, he collapsed and begged God to let him die. Physically and emotionally spent, he fell asleep. As Elijah slept, God sent an angel to provide food and water for him at regular intervals. The only instructions given to him were to eat, drink and sleep because he had a long journey ahead of him.
When he had regained his strength, he traveled 40 days and nights to Mt. Horeb, the mountain of God, where he took up residence in a cave. Hmmm. Mt. Horeb? Does that name ring a bell? Or maybe its alternate name of Mt. Sinai? If it doesn’t, I’ll give you a clue. It’s called the mountain of God because it’s where God met with Moses and gave him the ten commandments. And when I think of Moses, I begin to see some parallels with Elijah’s experience.
Moses was also used by God to do extraordinary things for the nation of Israel. He also prophesied to a king, pharaoh actually, who hated him. He called the people to follow God and worship Him only. After miracle upon miracle and seeing the burning mountain of God and experiencing His awe-inspiring presence from the foot of the mountain those people declared, “ All that the Lord has commanded, we will do.” But when Moses spent too much time on the mountain with God, they feared he wasn’t coming back and decided to forget the covenant they had made and create a golden calf to worship. Both Moses and Elijah thought that the miracles they had taken part in had truly changed the people, but their behavior quickly revealed that it had not. Neither man had asked God for the positions in which they found themselves. They were reluctant, yet obedient servants. I wonder if it seemed to them that God was simply toying with them for His own amusement.
But that wasn’t it at all. He was preparing them for an encounter with Himself that was unlike anything any other human ever experienced. When God asked Elijah what he was doing on the mountain, he replied, “I have worked very hard for the Lord God of the heavens, but the people of Israel have broken their covenant with You and torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets and only I am left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” God responded by telling Elijah to stand before Him on the mountain. “And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain; it was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he covered his face.” After this incredible encounter with the Almighty, God gave him further prophecies and the reassurance that there were actually more than 7000 people in Israel who served the true God. Elijah left the mountain renewed, encouraged and with a completely new understanding of Who God was.
Moses had a similar experience after he had dealt with the people’s sin of making a golden calf to worship. Angry and discouraged by their behavior and overwhelmed at the prospect of leading such people, Moses asked God for a sign that He would actually be present with them for every step of the journey ahead. God warned him not to look at His face. Moses was to step inside a cleft in the rock on the mountain facing away from God. God would pass by and Moses could gaze on His glory from behind. Not only did this experience give Moses the courage and determination to keep leading the people, but it transformed him physically. When he came down from the mountain, his face was radiant with God’s glory, so much so, that the people were afraid to look at him. It wore off eventually, but there could be no doubt that he had been in the presence of God.
I had been familiar with both of these stories for years, but somehow, I had missed the connection. And it goes even further. Do you remember who Peter, James and John saw talking with Jesus when He was transfigured? It was Moses and Elijah. Perhaps Jesus wanted his disciples to think about the special place those two men held in God’s heart. The disciples had equally hard times awaiting them. Was Jesus preparing them by reminding them of how His Father cared for and rewarded the faithful? The Apostle Paul undoubtedly heard the story from Peter and it wasn’t lost on him. It may have inspired him to write Romans 5: 1-5 and those words are the perfect way to close.
“Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in the hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character; hope, and hope does not disappoint.”
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