Steps of Faith
“Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.””
So begins the story of one of my heroes in the Bible. As I’ve walked with Jesus faithfully for 14 years, I have come to appreciate the life of the prophet of Elijah.
When my small group decided that we would spend a semester talking about our favorite chapters in the Bible, I knew I needed to start off with 1 Kings 17 and the life of Elijah. His story is full of struggle, faith, and seeing the miraculous come to pass. When his earthly life had come to an end, the Lord had sent a “chariot of fire” to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11). He is the only one that the Lord had sent such an escort to be received into heaven. When Jesus is transfigured on a high mountain, Peter, James, and John take notice that both Moses and Elijah are talking with Jesus.
So, you could say that Elijah is a pretty big deal in the Scriptures.
Even though Elijah (through the power of the Lord) performed great miracles and feats, his story is still relatable. It’s relatable because as James 5:17-18 says, Elijah “was a human being, even as we are.” In other words, Elijah was just an ordinary man who received and obeyed the call of God on his life.
When Elijah’s story in 1 Kings 17 starts off, it starts when sin and evil are at an apex in the history of Jerusalem. Ahab is king of Jerusalem and has accomplished more evil than all the other kings before him. (This is quite the feat if you go and read about the former kings.) For God, this was not the way and he sends Elijah to set things straight.
Though he did not know how it would all turn out for himself, Elijah proclaimed a drought over the land of Israel. Elijah is then commanded to go hide in a ravine, drink from the brook, and ravens will feed him. I don’t know about you, but I’d have a hard time believing that a bird was going to bring me the food I’d need to live each day. But this is what Elijah does. His step of faith helped create a continual structure of faith in the Lord. And yes, God did send the ravens to feed Elijah.
But then the brook dries up. It’s important to note that not every time we choose to obey and follow God it will be easy. As a missionary, there have been a number of times where I’ve felt that something should go one way or that God should do something in a certain direction and then God does His thing and it’s not close at all to what I was anticipating. Elijah must’ve thought that he’d continue to be fed and that his brook would not run low even though there was no rain. Imagine his surprise when the brook dries up and he’s told to go and visit a widow!
Again, Elijah’s faith is put to the test. He knows that God provided for him once before, but can God do it again? The situation has not changed: there is low water and food scarcity. Elijah must obey for his own livelihood.
He goes to the widow and finds out that she’s on her way to fix one more meal for her and her family so that they will eat it and die. Yet, Elijah again takes a step of faith bigger than the last one. He declares that the widow’s oil and flour would not be used up and, sure enough, it wasn’t. Elijah’s faith gave others the opportunity to keep going.
So as 1 Kings 17 comes to an end, there’s one story left to tell. This step of faith would be the biggest of all. Again, the situation had not changed. Food is scarce, water is low. Things are bad.
To add insult to injury, the widow’s son got really sick. His condition grew worse and worse until he died.
The widow is crestfallen. She is outraged at Elijah, insinuating that it was his judgement upon her that caused this tragedy. Elijah knows the situation is bleak. From reading the scriptures, I don’t know if Elijah had ever seen someone die and come back to life, but because of his faith in the Lord, he must’ve thought it wouldn’t hurt to try. After all, if he can be fed by birds and if jars of one days’ ingredients won’t run empty, would he see if there is there a limit to the Lord’s goodness and power?
Elijah cries out to the Lord and stretches himself out on the boy’s body, believing that there must be a miracle waiting to happen. And once again, the Lord shows His power has no end. The boy comes back to life and is back in his mother’s arms. For this widow, revelation breaks through to her heart: the Lord that Elijah has been following and talking about is the One who speaks truth. Elijah’s faith not only revived the physical body of a boy, but revived the heart of a hopeless woman.
In each situation, Elijah had to take a step of faith and rely on the Lord’s mercy. Each step of faith was bigger than the one before and I believe that if Elijah had never obeyed in proclaiming a drought and hiding in a ravine, waiting to be fed by ravens, that he would have never had the faith to bring a boy back to life.
What steps of faith are you needing to take in your life? Imagine the possibility of taking one simple step of faith. It will not only have a direct impact on you, but it will lay down a foundational stone of faith that you may one day need when you are facing a “dead” situation.
