And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an 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.  And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?  And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.  And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. 

 

He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. (1 Kings 19:11-18; Psa. 46: 9-10-KJV)

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Most of us know the story of Elijah as he ran from Jezebel because of her threat.  However, God wanted him, just as he does you and me to be still when the enemy threatens us.  We are his children and the apple of his eye. He promises never to leave us or forsake us. No matter what.  I wonder why we ofttimes feel threaten by the tactics of the enemy?  Perhaps I am only speaking for myself, however, when I sometimes cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, I do get a little anxious.

Elijah was a little anxious as well, he decided that he would not under any circumstances wait for the Lord to come and solve his dilemma.  So, he ran off and set under a juniper tree and asked that he might die.  I pray that none of us go quite that far and ask for death, however, it is my belief that we do not always “Wait” for our Savior to answer while being still.

We devise plan A and if that does not work in the timeframe that we desire, we quickly add plan B-H and so on.  I realize that being still is easier said than done but allow me to share something with you.  I am writing this sermon during the time of the pandemic and our water heater broke and water went all over our basement and flooded a bedroom downstairs.  We were getting up water for approximately eight days because of an error of the contractor that came out. It took thirteen days of living without hot water, heating water for baths, dishes, etc.

Nevertheless, I had to do a spiritual check and encourage my own self to be quite and still and “Wait” on the Lord to solve our circumstances. Of course, the enemy tried every tactic he knew, from not allowing the first contractor to return calls, pick up the water heater, over pricing and the list goes on. But, when I finally settled down (my husband was already settled and believing God would do whatever needed to be done) and realized that I had to be still before the Lord, God began to move mightily on our behalf. Was it easy, no, did I submit to being still immediately, no, did I get anxious and annoyed, yes?

Jesus said that we would have trials and tribulations in this world, but He has already overcome the world. Beloved, we desperately need to learn how to be still and allow God to be God in our lives. Only our Father can solve the circumstances that we have no control over – it is our responsibility to let go of our controls and give them to Christ. God already has a solution to every problem we will ever face let us learn to be still before him.

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