Elijah: A Good Read

Series: More Than Kid's Stuff (Favorite Bible Stories)


It seems like I spent pretty much of the month of January in the house. I had the flu for a couple of weeks (I will be getting a flu shot next year!) My husband had an accident, so I stayed in with him for several days (Thankfully, Mike is fine now.) Then we had that cold, icy weather. All of this is to say that I caught up at home on some things I’ve been meaning to do including a bit of reading. I read a couple of books that had been recommended, and I guess they were OK. However, (and this is something all you readers already know) there is no better read than The Book. I really enjoy the stories in the Old Testament.

For me, it’s hard to pick my favorite Old Testament story or character. They are all so human. In fact, don't you sometimes think that you would have made better decisions than the Israelites did? How hard could it be to show obedience when God spoke to them so clearly and gave them so many signs & miracles and second chances?

The Old Testament is filled with accounts of men who seem larger than. When I read the stories about the prophet Elijah, it is difficult for me to think of him as just a man. The Jews and the first Christians must have felt the same way. James 5:16-17 says:
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

Elijah’s life encourages me in at least two respects. First, I admire the courageousness of his faith. We first meet Elijah in 1 Kings 17. In a word, the nation of Israel is a mess. The wicked King Ahab is on the throne. His queen, Jezebel, is no better. In fact she contributes to Ahab’s rebelliousness. “Ahab did more evil than all who were before him.” Elijah goes to Ahab and says, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next years except at my word” (I Kings 17:1). To stand before a king and declare God’s power and supremacy above the false Baal gods was a great act of faith. Elijah said, “You will see it rain again when God – through me! – says it’s time to rain!” Wow!

I want to be courageous like Elijah. In many ways, the times we live in today aren’t that different from the days of Elijah. This brings to mind the words of the “Days of Elijah”.
These are the days of Elijah
Declaring the word of the Lord:
And these are the days of Your servant Moses,
Righteousness being restored.
And though these are days of great trial,
Of famine and darkness and sword,
Still, we are the voice in the desert crying
' Prepare ye the way of the Lord!'

In the days of Elijah, many no longer believed in Jehovah. They were days of darkness and great trial. Today, these are the days when we, as Christians need to have the boldness of Elijah to declare the word of the Lord.

Secondly, I am encouraged by how Elijah trusted God to take care of him. When a great famine settled across the land, God told Elijah to hide himself at the Kerith Ravine. There are no restaurants in the area! But, God kept the brook flowing with water and, he sent ravens with bread and meat every morning and evening (1 Kings 17:4-6). The bible says, “So he did what the Lord had told him.” This statement characterized Elijah’s life. Because he made a conscious decision to do what the Lord had told him, he was totally dependent upon God during this time of hiding. And he was completely alone with God. He was learning to trust the Lord for each day as it came, and to walk by faith.

Later, when the brook dries up, God sends Elijah to a widow’s house in Zarephath. It is there that Elijah is again cared for through the gracious hospitality of this special woman who God blesses with ample food for a period of time. His life is in a state of flux, but he meets each challenge with an unwavering trust in God.

Most everyone knows what it feels like to be in a state of “flux”. When the brook dried up, Elijah probably thought, “Now what?” I suspect similar thoughts go through our minds today. When the job we have put so much into dries up. When the good health and strength we have always enjoyed trickles away. When a loved one we have always counted on is suddenly gone.

For these reasons and others, I find the whole story of Elijah fascinating. And I believe every word of it. It is full of important details and modern day applications. My mind goes back to the scripture in James 5. I think James is exhorting us to be “Elijah-like”. He was a person with emotions, needs, and questions just like us. James encourages us to live in courageously in trust. God still looks for such in his people today. Our world needs to see “Elijah-like” people.

Thank you, Lord, for providing this story for us. It is so much more than a history lesson. It stirs our hearts and strengthens our faith in those moments when we stand in circumstances that need a word from you “through us”. And, thank you for Jesus who is the same today, yesterday, yes and forever. Amen.

Lynn Anne Hughes
Stephenville, Texas