Ask God To Take The Phyiscal Challenge

Asking God to Take a Physical Challenge

Let us pray.

I want to ask the kids a question. By a show of hands, how many of you know about or have watched the show Double Dare on Nickelodeon?

Well, I’m here to let you know that show is about 15 years old. I remember when that show first came out, and I remember wanting for me and my friends to go on that show. I would tell them, that if we got on the show, we would win because I would know all the answers to the questions and we wouldn’t get out hair messed up with doing the physical challenges.

I really like that show as a kid. For those of you who don’t know what Double Dare is where two teams answer tough trivia questions or dare the other team to answer first? If the "dared" team "double-dares" right back, then it’s on to the mega-messy "physical challenge." At the end, the winning team gets a one-way ticket to TV’s #1 "slopstacle" course where if completed in a certain amount of time people get tons of prizes and money.

The game show is so popular that it has four spin offs

1. Double Dare 2000

2. Family Double Dare

3. Super Sloppy Double Dare

4. Super Special Double Dare

This game show isn’t popular because of the trivia questions, it’s popular because of the out landish physical challenges that the people are required to do.

For example talk about slime toss for family double dare….

Kids and the young at heart love doing crazy things that seem impossible. The fun is not actually completing the challenge, but in doing the challenge itself.

Just ask the kids. We did something like that for confirmation. What was our physical challenge that we did for confirmation? (If the kids can’t remember or say it right go over it one more time.)

It got to the point that the kids didn’t want to get the answers right… they were ready to beat the highest score. It was to the point to where the children who got the assignment right felt robbed because they wanted to do the “Fear Factor” challenge.

Just like the kids on Double Dare were more than willing to take the physical challenge and how the kids in confirmation were more willing to put their faces in a bowl and dig out twizzlers with their mouths, we need to be more daring with your faith and be willing to ask God to take the physical challenge in our lives.

I was reminded of this when I read about Elijah and what happened on Mt. Carmel. This passage of text comes from the 18th chapter of I kings.

Ahab called for Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. Obadiah feared GOD—he was very devout. Earlier, when Jezebel had tried to kill off all the prophets of GOD, Obadiah had hidden away a hundred of them in two caves, fifty in a cave, and then supplied them with food and water.

5-6 Ahab ordered Obadiah, "Go through the country; locate every spring and every stream. Let’s see if we can find enough grass to keep our horses and mules from dying." So they divided the country between them for the search—Ahab went one way, Obadiah the other.

7 Obadiah went his way and suddenly there he was—Elijah! Obadiah fell on his knees, bowing in reverence, and exclaimed, "Is it really you—my master Elijah?"

8 "Yes," said Elijah, "the real me. Now go and tell your boss, ’I’ve seen Elijah.’"

9-14 Obadiah said, "But what have I done to deserve this? Ahab will kill me. As surely as your GOD lives, there isn’t a country or kingdom where my master hasn’t sent out search parties looking for you. And if they said, ’We can’t find him; we’ve looked high and low,’ he would make that country or kingdom swear that you were not to be found. And now you’re telling me, ’Go and tell your master Elijah’s found!’ The minute I leave you the Spirit of GOD will whisk you away to who knows where. Then when I report to Ahab, you’ll have disappeared and Ahab will kill me. And I’ve served GOD devoutly since I was a boy! Hasn’t anyone told you what I did when Jezebel was out to kill the prophets of GOD, how I risked my life by hiding a hundred of them, fifty to a cave, and made sure they got food and water? And now you’re telling me to draw attention to myself by announcing to my master, ’Elijah’s been found.’ Why, he’ll kill me for sure."

15 Elijah said, "As surely as GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies lives, and before whom I take my stand, I’ll meet with your master face-to-face this very day."