I love football season. It’s just so much fun watching a great college game at home with my wife, kids, and a bunch of hot buffalo wings!
Can you picture your favorite team having the lead in a game and the star player walking off the field just before a big play? The coach would become hysterical and ask the player: “Why are you here? Get back on the field!”. Sometimes, we walk off the field just before God is about to use us.
The past five days of reading through the Bible took us from the highest peak of Israel’s glory with King Solomon to the lowest valley as the temple and walls of Jerusalem are burned and destroyed. In the middle of all this is Elijah’s story in I Kings.
Elijah, saw Israel turning away from God. He needed to keep his focus and stay faithful to God, but even Elijah became overwhelmed with the junk going on around him.
Elijah had one of his greatest victories on Mount Carmel in I Kings, chapter 18. He experienced God’s power as fire came down from the sky and consumed a water-soaked altar. Then, Elijah prayed for rain after a three-year drought and got absolutely drenched in God’s blessing, literally. This amazing man of God should have been unshakable after all of that.
After Elijah came down from the mountain, the queen vowed to take his life. So he ran into the wilderness of seclusion and hid, defeated by self-pity and depression (he walked off the field). How does Elijah go from such victory to the point where he’s telling God: “I have had enough, Lord. Take my life.”?
The Word of the Lord told Elijah to leave his cave and experience God. A strong wind came, a powerful earthquake hit, and then a devouring fire appeared. But God wasn’t in those things. They were followed by the gentle whisper of God asking Elijah: “Why are you here?”. Why was he hiding in the cave of self-pity when the blessing of God had just rained down on him? God still had work for Elijah. But Elijah had checked out on God.
In his book: Elijah – A Man of Heroism and Humility, Chuck Swindoll writes about Elijah’s roller-coaster ride of emotions and brings out a powerful point:
Often we are more enamored with the gifts God has given us than with the Giver himself. When the Lord brings us rest and refreshment, we become more grateful for the rest and refreshment than for the God who allows it. When God gives us a good friend, we become absorbed in that friendship and so preoccupied with the friend that we forget it was our gracious God who gave us the friend. We so easily focus on the wrong things.
When we focus on the gift rather than the Giver, we will be let down. We can’t put our hope in relationships, jobs, or material things. God wants to use us, but He won’t if we check out on Him.
Daily prayer and quiet time with Jesus helps reset our priorities. So if your discouraged, if you’ve “walked off the field”, set your focus back on the Creator. Get back in the game because God has some big plans for you.
Pastor Dave
P.S. Parents – be sure and read the 100 Day Challenge Kid Blog with your kids – click here
Dave is tasked with the massive job of organizing the talent and effort of the entire Southbrook staff. His passion for bringing out the best in people is only matched by his passion for the church and his love for his family.