(Lesson 4) Elijah: An Encounter Out Of Discouragement

A. INTRODUCTION: I KINGS 19:3-18

1. Miraculous food. God provided for Elijah’s needs. "The ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook" (I Kings 17:6).

2. Miraculous source. "The barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail" (I Kings 17:16).

3. Raised the dead. "The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came unto him again, and he revived" (I Kings 17:22).

4. Fire from heaven. "Let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant" (I Kings 18:36).

5. The temporary results of past accomplishments. Just because you have been used of God in the past, does not mean:

a. You won’t get discouraged.

b. You are prepared for the future.

c. You will be used in the future.

B. THE PROBLEMS IN ELIJAH’S LIFE

1. Run away/can’t face problems. "He arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba" (I Kings 19:3).

2. Physically tired. "And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree . . . arise and eat because the journey is too great for thee" (I Kings 19:5,7).

3. Discouraged. "The children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant . . . and I, even I, only on left" (I Kings 19:10).

4. Depressed/suicide. "He requested for himself that he might die" (I Kings 19:4).

5. No one has too many problems to be used of God.

C. TEN PRINCIPLES ABOUT ENCOUNTERING GOD

1. The cause of your spiritual problems may have a correlation to your physical problems. "Let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not" (Gal. 6:9).

2. Sometimes God will deal with your physical problems before encountering you. "An angel . . . said, rise and eat . . . behold there was a cake there" (I Kings 19:6).

3. Sometimes when people run away from their problems, God encounters them to send them back to deal with them. "Go, return on thy way" (I Kings 19:15).

4. There are some locations where God chooses to encounter His servants. "The journey is too great for thee . . . he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God" (I Kings 19:7,8).

5. Fasting is a discipline that some must follow to prepare themselves for an encounter with God. "Is not this the fast that I have chosen . . . That ye break every yoke?" (Isa. 58:6).

6. Fasting is a time of self-examination that prepares a person for an encounter with God. "Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning" (Joel 2:12).

7. An encounter with God does not always involve loud voices or extreme physical manifestations. "But the Lord was not in the wind: . . . nor in the earthquake; . . . nor in the fire; but . . . a still small voice" (I Kings 19:11,12).

"Behold the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks . . . but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind and earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire, a still small voice" (I Kings 19:11-12).

8. When you encounter someone who lowers his or her voice, you must become still and quiet to hear and understand. "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).

9. The content of God’s message in an encounter is more important than the method He uses to talk to you. "Go, return on thy way . . . anoint Hazael . . . anoint Jehu . . . anoint Elisha" (I Kings 19:15,16).

10. God solves emotional depression by giving people hope, focusing them on the future and putting them to work. "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed to Baal" (I Kings 19:18).

If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:

Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.