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Crazy Like Elijah
Tim Savage44Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”
Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’” 1 Kings 18
Elijah is a man of unbelievable faith. He was fed by ravens, he lived with the widow and her son on an unending supply of oil and flour, he watched God answer his prayer to raise the boy from the dead, God used him to best the prophets of Baal and Asherah in the contest to light the altars on fire, then he prays for rain after several years of drought and God answers that prayer too.
I love the scene here with his servant, after going to check 7 times for rain; finally the servant sees a tiny cloud form over the ocean and Elijah tells him to run for his chariot before he gets caught in a rainstorm. Now that’s faith. The servant must have just laughed, “That’s nothing but a tiny little cloud and he wants to me to run to my chariot before a torrential rain? Is he crazy?”
I want the faith of Elijah: to see the smallest beginning and know that it brings a huge movement behind it, like a pebble tumbling down the side of a mountain causing a massive avalanche. Elijah recognized God’s power and answered prayer in the feeding from the ravens, the miniscule amount of oil and flour left in the containers, the impossible odds of the water drenched altar and the fist-sized cloud far out on the horizon. Too often I just see too little provision or not-enough resource rather than celebrating the miracle and huge victory that God is about to bring. May I be crazy like Elijah.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Forgive me when I have too little faith. Forgive me when I try to put You in a box that is limited by my infinitesimal understanding. With You all things are possible and nothing is impossible. Please help me to have the faith of Elijah.
In Jesus name,
Amen
