Elijah believed God would end the drought, so he continued to pray for rain. I bet people thought he was crazy! Can you imagine being in his shoes? He was going against the culture, what everyone else was doing and what everyone else believed in. They did not believe in His God or that He would bring rain to the land that had not had any rain in years! Elijah kept trusting and believing when it literally looked dead and impossible. Did he get scared, impatient, or discouraged? Yes, he was human. (Read the next chapter). He wasn’t perfect, but God was faithful to His promise. The miracle of the story was to bring glory to God and turn the people to Him and the beauty is that Elijah didn’t give up. He trusted God and he was obedient.
“He said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go back” seven times. It came about at the seventh time, that he said, “Behold, a cloud as small as a man’s hand is coming up from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, so that the heavy shower does not stop you.'””
1 Kings 18:43-44 NASB
Elijah was persistent. He kept looking and expecting over and over again until he saw change and when he did see a sliver of hope, he trusted and believed in what God was going to do!
It’s obvious by what he said… “So that the heavy shower does not stop you”??? Are you kidding? It hadn’t rained in years! Talk about crazy faith! That blows my mind. It’s so easy to look at these stories and not really see the human side of it. These are people that were flawed, broken and by the world’s standards, a little crazy, but he believed in what God could do and he did not give up! I want to be that person that looks at impossible situations and trusts God without hesitation. I want to be able to say for the 7th or 777th time, “Go, prepare and get ready for the down pour of God’s miracle!”
Do you feel like you are in a spiritual, physical or emotional drought?
Begin to thank God for the small victories in your life. A grateful heart is the cure for anxiety! These small victories will bring big movement in the future! Pray and ask God to give you direction. He hears you. He sees you and He will answer. He will download things to you when you listen! Be obedient in what He has told you. He will reward your faithfulness in His time!
Have you prayed, heard God and been obedient over and over again, but still feel you are in a dead and dry season?
Sometimes we get so focused on the future, that we fail to see the value in the now. What are you doing to to prepare right now? We don’t need a platform to do what we are called to do today. We just simply need to do it, no matter how redundant or small it may seem. Start in your circles of influence. Be humble and be correctable. Surround yourself with people who will make you better, lead you to light and speak truth to you. Your inner-circle matters. The people you link with now will set the course for your future. Don’t despise the little things. It is what equips you for what is coming. Put yourself in an atmosphere that will prepare you for your future.
Do you trust God even when you don’t see the answer right in front of you?
I say this all of the time, but I really believe it to be true, “Prayer changes things!” It does! When we talk to God about what is hurting our hearts, listen to Him for answers and receive His peace and direction, He takes our prayers and answers them in ways we could not have anticipated or imagined. He multiplies the seed of our faith and turns it into things that we could never do on our own! He wants our trust, but He also wants our obedience. This requires relenting our will and praying for His. He knows we can get tired, but we cannot stop going to Him. He is listening, He is answering and He is working. Go back to Him over and over! He will answer and His answers are perfect, full of purpose and right on time! Don’t miss the opportunity to walk in obedience of the mundane while preparing for the rain!
The Walk 