When it means goings against the flow
“Connecting with God…” series
20So Ahab summoned everyone in Israel, particularly the prophets, to Mount Carmel.
21Elijah challenged the people: "How long are you going to sit on the fence? If GOD is the real God, follow him; if it’s Baal, follow him. Make up your minds!"
Nobody said a word; nobody made a move.
22Then Elijah said, "I’m the only prophet of GOD left in Israel; and there are four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. 1 Kings 18:20-22 (MSG)
Three mischievous boys went to the zoo one day for an outing, since they had been at school all week. They decided to visit the elephant cage, but soon enough, they were picked up by a cop for causing a commotion. The officer hauled them off to security for questioning. The supervisor in charge asked them to give their names and tell what they were doing at the elephant cage.
The first boy innocently said, "My name is Gary, and I was just throwing peanuts into the elephant cage."
The second added, "My name is Larry, and all I was doing was throwing peanuts into the elephant cage."
The third boy was a little shaken up and said, "Well, my name is Peter, but my friends call me Peanuts."
Elijah must have felt like Peanuts. His friends, his own people, the people of Israel, did not side with him at all. The fact is no one made a move. So he stood there alone, saying "I’m the only prophet of GOD left in Israel.” On the part of everyone else, there was indecision. There is no movement one way or the other. No one wanted to commit themselves and find out later that they stood with the losing side. They knew the stakes were high. That the losers could very well have their heads chopped off. Defying the king of Israel, Mr. Ahab’s or defying Elijah, who claims to be the prophet of the God of Israel, what will the people do? Elijah challenged the people to go against the flow…
If the majority is right, at least according to the numbers game, then the right side to be on is the one with the 450 prophets versus one of the God of Israel. If you go with the flow, the folks there would be wise to choose Baal’s 450 wouldn’t they? But is that the right side?
It was a confusing time. People there literally in the original language were said to be “dancing” between Baal and God. They wanted to stay somewhat “neutral”, playing it safe, non-committal. I had that experience, when I was in a Grade 5 government exam in Malaysia, I prayed to all the gods I know, from the gods of Islam, Buddha, Moses, Jesus, just to play safe and get all my bases covered. But to stay there is also a choice, a choice of not fully obeying God who says “there are no other gods”. And God wants and desires a full and devoted commitment. People want to play safe, they think that idea is great. But it’s a losers’ mentality. It’s not a great option. It was idolatry in the first degree!
Think about this. What if your spouse or fiance or boyfriend/girlfriend were to dance around you and another lover, would you be pleased? Would u not want full-undivided devotion? If they say “I half-love you”- is that OK with you? If they chose to do nothing will u feel loved, treasured or would u feel betrayed, would u not feel wounded, hurt and would u not want to claim your lover back?
What God is after is not popular opinion or majority vote! What God is after is the undivided love. Loyalty in the first degree! BUT It goes against the flow of the time, because mixing up Baal worship and God worship is in style! But that hurts God, because God is love. And He will not want to share that love. He has chosen Israel to love and they spurned Him.
And God used a widow in in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon (1 Kings 17) to teach His people the meaning of faith. Elijah performed two miracles here for this widow– flour and oil never ran out in famine time. And second miracle - her dead son came back alive. And this is how it happened… And she proclaimed faith in God as a result! This how it went down, according to the Bible...
21And he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, please let this child’s life return to him." 22The LORD heard Elijah’s prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he came back to life! 23Then Elijah brought him down from the upper room and gave him to his mother. "Look, your son is alive!" he said.
24Then the woman told Elijah, "Now I know for sure that you are a man of God, and that the LORD truly speaks through you."
Contrast that woman’s faith to Ahab and Israel’s faith.
Here is a woman, a widow, helpless, poor, powerless, lonely, in the throes of starvation, who lives in the Zarephath, a village that is in the control and power of the Jezebel’s father who represents forces of evil against God. A woman outside of the faith of Israel, without hope, without anything, yet she had a faith that confesses, God spoke to her through Elijah.
Contrast that to Ahab, who have the faith of the God of Israel as his heritage, kingly, powerful, with lots of kids, rich, with all you can eat buffet everyday, living in God’s land, yet he and his people could not bring themselves to worship the one true God. God wanted to show the folks, there was no indecision when it comes to this woman’s faith. “I know for sure” vs. the dancing around, wavering faith of Ahab and Israel.
Let me stop and ask what kind of faith do you and I have? Perhaps time for some true confessions here, right???
God could have been mean and vindictive when his people did not play ball with him. He could have just wiped them out, clean house, rain down hail and brimstone. He could have been like this Marine stationed in Afghanistan who recently received a "Dear John" letter from his girlfriend back home. It read as follows:
Dear Ricky,
I can no longer continue our relationship. The distance between us is just too great. I must admit that I have cheated on you twice since you’ve been gone, and it’s not fair to either of us. I’m sorry. Please return the picture of me that I sent to you.
Love,
Becky
The Marine, with hurt feelings, asked his fellow Marines for any snapshots they could spare of their girlfriends, sisters, ex-girlfriends, aunts, cousins, etc. In addition to the picture of Becky, Ricky included all the other pictures of the pretty gals he had collected from his buddies. There were 57 photos in that envelope, along with this note.
Dear Becky,
I"m sorry, but I can’t quite remember who you are. Please take your picture from the pile and send the rest back to me.
Love,
Ricky
Yes, God could have hurt His people badly but no, He did not. God spoke through Elijah, to win them back. God used him to persuade his people, to think through clearly the choice they need to make. “If GOD is the real God, follow him; if it’s Baal, follow him. Make up your minds!"
Today God has spoken, through His Son. God sent His Son, Jesus to win us back. To show He is not a God who incites hate or desires to betray us or cheat us of fun and life. God is love. He wants us to love. He can’t stand our indecision, half-hearted praise, passionless worship with arms folded not raised to Him in complete surrender. God is hurt that we have conveniently chosen to forget His miracles, just as Ahab forgot that God delivered Israel out of Egypt with a mighty hand and legacy of godly kings who experienced God’s power and deliverance. Going with the flow and not with complete faith in God hurts a lot!
We ask where is this God of love? But He has shown up. Look at the cross, but we, just like the crowd that was there with Jesus, sought to crucify Him.
It sure goes against the flow. That God would still want to love us and to seek our love. If God were to follow the trends of our world, He would have chopped off our heads rather than let His son hang on the cross. Why should the innocent Jesus die for sinners such as you and I? What have we ever done to merit such love?
Illustration: Scene: Matrix revolutions:
Neo finds himself on a concrete floor. As he awakens, he is looking up at the face of a little girl, Sati, who explains to Neo that he is in The Train Station, a place between his world and the Matrix.
Scene:
Sati asks Neo if he is from the Matrix? Neo says that he used to be. Sati says that she had to leave home also. Her father, Ramakandra, calls her over, explaining to Neo that his daughter is just curious. Neo recognizes the man and says, "You’re programs."
Ramakandra responds, "Oh yes. I am the Powerplant Systems Manager for Recycling Operations. My wife is an interactive software program -- she is highly creative." He explains that the train station is a place to take things from one world to another. When Neo asks if that is what he is doing here, Ramakandra’s wife warns her husband not to answer, but Ramakandra wants to be kind and says he doesn’t mind:
"The answer is simple. I love my daughter very much. I find her to be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. But where we are from that is not enough. Every program that is created must have a purpose. If it does not, it is deleted. I went to the Frenchman to save my daughter. You do not understand."
Neo is stunned, "I’ve just never heard of"
Ramakandra recognizes Neo’s problem, "You’ve never heard a program speak of love."
Neo explains, "It’s a human emotion."
But Ramakandra corrects him, "No, it is a word. What matters is the connection the word implies. I see that you are in love. Can you tell me what you would give to hold on to that connection?"
Neo, thinking of Trinity, says, "Anything."
With understanding in his eyes, Ramakandra says, "Then perhaps the reason you are here is not so different from the reason I am here."
Application:
Love is not an emotion, it is a connection. Emotions come and go, but love based in a commitment of the will, bears and believes all things. That’s God for us. He bore our sin thru Christ. He wants to connect with us, a commitment of His will, it is not mere emotion!
Don’t let love be just a word, let it be a connection from your heart to God’s heart. God, our Creator, has indelibly marked us with His image. We love, because He first loved us. This story of Elijah is about God preserving that connection. It has become a priority of the utmost importance, so God would do anything to preserve it. That’s what God is doing the story of Elijah – God is calling to follow Him– go against the flow, because He is love, no other gods would say or do what Christ did to win us back!
So God sent Elijah to His people and God sent Jesus to us, and God sent me to you… to connect you back to Him. Don’t go with flow, with the powerful know it alls, have it alls, even 450 of them with unity say follow them, follow God today even if one says so. God’s record of love is enough evidence, that He can trusted! Hasn’t He in the past come through for us, look at all your answered prayers.
Anyone can draw a crowd. Cults do that all the time, Britney Spears does that, but are they gods? Don’t let others pull you away, for one good reason - our one God says He is love and to proof it He gives us Jesus. Will you take Jesus all the way? Perhaps you have lost connection with God, can’t believe anymore, pain has pulled u away, or trouble or pressures of work, home… whatever it is, God says to you today, don’t give in to the majority… instead give in to the God of love.
Another thing I learn is true change comes at God’s timing. We may be experiencing "famine", dry times spiritually, but God will come through for us in our desperation when we do cry to Him. At the right time, God sent Elijah, to a hopeless widow, to a faithless Ahab and his nation, and to us sinners, He sent Jesus. Today is the right time, to get right with God. So don’t go with the flow of our day, that syncretizes or mixes up true faith and substitute it with a real connection with the God of love.
Each day as you wake up - make it a practice to thank God as you wake and say "I LOVE YOU", make a decision to get deep in the word of God, choose clearly each new day to follow His voice. Will you do that?
