Just Hold On

I wonder if there is anyone here that ever seems like bad things are always happening to them. It seems like that you are always getting the short end of things. However, after going through all of your trails what you have learned is that through it all God is always right there with us, getting us through the rough spots, holding us up, and giving us strength to make it through.

There is a woman in 1st Kings 17 who has a moment whereas things are not going so well, but what’s good about her situation is that Elijah is there with her, taking care of her and her son day after day, but then mist of it all something happens.

In the beginning of this set scene Elijah was a prophet of God who was sent to King Ahab to tell him that Israel was going to be punished because of its great wickedness. Through the influence of Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel, Israel had starting worshipping Baal and some of the other heathen gods and as a punishment, God said he was going to stop the rain. For three and a half years, it didn’t rain.

And after a couple of months, King Ahab issued a decree and said, “Anyone caught watering their lawns or washing their chariots will be fined accordingly.” After a few more months, no one is allowed to wash their clothes or take baths. And after three years, it was difficult to even find water to drink.

The record is that Ahab and his wife Jezebel didn’t take too kindly to Elijah’s words. They probably dismissed him as a nut case at first, but as time went by without rain, things started to get serious. So, now the person that they though was crazy they now have sent out search teams to find Elijah so that they could have him killed, but God protected Elijah by hiding him by the brook Cherith, and here’s what I have learned from the first part of this lesson and that is, when you are out on an assignment for God, and when your enemy is out to hurt you, harm you, or even kill you God will protect you in the mist of trouble.

Look at what God is doing for the man of God; he hides him by a brook, a watering hole, or a stream if you please, he’s feeding him with bread brought by the ravens. (A bird that is considered to be a bird of bad luck: but now he is performing the acts of a waiter). And now after months and months of no rain, even the brook where Elijah is lodging was now drying up and Elijah had to go somewhere else.

So the word of the Lord came to Elijah. And it must have sounded like one of those good news/bad news jokes. "The good news was, Elijah, you are to you get up and leave Cherith. The bad news is I want you to go to Zarephath." God said to Elijah, "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there." (I Kings 17:9a).

I don’t know how much Elijah knew about geography, but it’s possible that he had never heard of Zarephath before. It was a small town along the Mediterranean coast in the land of Phoenicia. Now Elijah might not have ever heard of Zarephath before, but you can be certain that he had heard of Sidon. Because Sidon was Jezebel’s hometown, and the capital of Phoenicia (fi-nee-uh). It was a center for idol worshippers.

Why in the world would God send Elijah to Zarephath, a suburb of Sidon? It didn’t make any sense. And if some of us were Elijah, we would have asked some questions for God. Some would have said "Lord, are you sure that you know what you are doing? You do know that this is the camp of my enemies, this is the camp where people don’t like me, this is the place where people are looking to destroy me. You do know that Jezebel is after my scalp.

And my brothers and sisters, I know that some of us are nonchalant, unexcited and acting cool about this but some of us would ask some questions, Lord why are you sending me there, in the mist of all of that chaos? Some of us would have some questions, Lord why would you send me to a place where people are trying to destroy me for what you told me to do. Let me speak for myself. Lord I have some question, because God you gave me the instruction on how I should live, teach and preach, and you have gave me my directives from the book that we call the bible why would you send me this a place where my enemies are lurking. I don’t know about you all this morning but I have been some places where is ask the Lord why.