Elijah

John Vandervelde - Program Director

In a few short hours I'll be boarding a plane and heading back to the Northwoods.  The time in Colorado Springs at the Christian Camping Conference was good.  I learned some things that we can implement in our organization and in my own life.  It has also been a lot of fun to connect with camping leaders from around the country (and world).  Sharing meals together, praying for one another, and learning together is great.

The conference speaker for our large group morning meetings was a man named Peter Reid.  He is a leader at a Torch Bearers Center in Southern Germany.  The first morning he got up to speak he had us turn to 1 Kings 19.  I instantly knew I was going to enjoy his teaching.  See, 1 Kings is perhaps my favorite book of the Bible and 1 Kings 18 & 19 are the best chapters of that book.  I love reading about the life of Elijah.  Elijah's experience on Mt. Carmel is my all time favorite Bible story and I teach on it often at HoneyRock.

1 Kings 19 is an interesting passage that has a powerful lesson for Christ followers.  In 1 Kings 18 Elijah stood up to Ahab and the prophets of Baal.  God showed up in a powerful way and with fire from heaven he burned up the altar Elijah made on Mt. Carmel.  The prophets of Baal were slaughtered and the people of Israel confessed that the Lord was their God.  Elijah was in a powerful ministry situation on Mt. Carmel.  Just a short time later in chapter 19 we find Elijah running for his life afraid of Jezebel and the revenge she promised to have on him.  Elijah is exhausted both spiritually and physically from his experience on Mt. Carmel and he lies under a bush and asks God to take his life.  Here we see Elijah, God's man, a hero of the faith, a man God eventually raptures to heaven, laying on the ground just wanting to die.  Feeling like a failure, feeling like his ministry is useless and that there is no hope.

God meets Elijah in his despair.  He gives him rest and he sends an angel to care for him.  God takes Elijah on a 40-day journey through the desert where he rebuilds Elijah's hope and faith in Him and prepares him for his next assignment. 

There are times in life and ministry where we come to the end of ourselves, where we are just worn down and beat up.  We, like Elijah, may become depressed and want to end it all.  We've given up hope and we just want to quit.  We see no fruit in our lives, in our work, in our ministry, and we've lost all hope.  It is in these moments where God wants to reconnect with us and rebuild us.  It is in these moments we need to stop looking at the fruit and abide in The Vine (John 15).

So today maybe you're like Elijah.  Maybe your feeling beat up and worn out in your life as a parent, in your job, at your school, or in your church.  Maybe you're depressed about the lack of fruit you see or you have a deep sense of hopelessness.  My encouragement to you (and to myself) is to abide in The Vine.  Go on a "40-day" journey with God and let him rebuild you.  Don't give up, God still has an assignment for you.