This past Sunday I continued in our Heroes series with a message on Elijah vs. The Prophets of Baal in I Kings 18. This is an awesome story! King Ahab and his vindictive wife Jezebel had been leading a Baal Revival (no that's not an agricultural movement of God....that would be a "bale revival"...furthermore, a "bail revival" involves prison ministry...setting the captives free...but I digress.) Jezebel had killed off most of God's Prophets in the land and reinstituted idol worship. Elijah declared a drought on the land as punishment for the nation turning its back on God. After 3 years of the drought, God tells Elijah to confront Ahab yet again.
Here's the conversation as they first meet up:
When he (Ahab) saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"
"I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals." - (I Kings 18:17-18)
Isn't it ironic that Ahab sees Elijah as the troublemaker?! To him, Elijah is the reason for the drought when, in reality, it is his own sin that brought punishment upon the land. All Elijah did was to speak up for God. Elijah told Ahab exactly what God told him to do. If that is what it means to be a troublemaker, then so be it. Often people want to shoot the messenger when the news is bad.
As Christians, God has called us to be His voice in this world. We must say what needs to be said...confronting the idolatry of our own culture....defending the defenseless....advocating morality...harboring the widowed, orphaned, and unborn. The world might see us as the problem, and not the glaring sins of our culture as the issue.
But I keep hearing God ask us, "If you don't speak up, if you refuse to say what needs to be said, if you sit idly by, who will speak the truth to this world?" We may be called troublemakers for speaking truth and living with conviction. It would be an honor to be included with that lot.
Here's the conversation as they first meet up:
When he (Ahab) saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"
"I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals." - (I Kings 18:17-18)
Isn't it ironic that Ahab sees Elijah as the troublemaker?! To him, Elijah is the reason for the drought when, in reality, it is his own sin that brought punishment upon the land. All Elijah did was to speak up for God. Elijah told Ahab exactly what God told him to do. If that is what it means to be a troublemaker, then so be it. Often people want to shoot the messenger when the news is bad.
As Christians, God has called us to be His voice in this world. We must say what needs to be said...confronting the idolatry of our own culture....defending the defenseless....advocating morality...harboring the widowed, orphaned, and unborn. The world might see us as the problem, and not the glaring sins of our culture as the issue.
But I keep hearing God ask us, "If you don't speak up, if you refuse to say what needs to be said, if you sit idly by, who will speak the truth to this world?" We may be called troublemakers for speaking truth and living with conviction. It would be an honor to be included with that lot.
No comments:
Post a Comment