Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. James 5:17-18

Elijah had a difficult task.  This prophet, in the Old Testament of the Bible, was God’s spokesman in a land that wanted nothing to do with God. The rulers of the land hated Elijah’s warnings and they kept trying to kill him. Elijah ran away into the wilderness, thoroughly exhausted, scared, lonely, and depressed.

God met Elijah in the wilderness, with fresh food and a listening ear. With gentleness, God encouraged Elijah, “Go back the way you came” (1 Kings 19:15).  Now who wants to run right back into a deadly situation?  But God knew what He was asking. In the process of obeying, Elijah met Elisha, the man God provided as a helper in Elijah’s work. In going back, Elijah learned that there were 7000 others in the land who also worshiped the true God rather than the idol Baal. These were encouraging breakthroughs in Elijah’s ministry.

The book of James notes that Elijah was a human being just like us (James 5:17). The signs and wonders God performed through Elijah were a result of earnest prayer. Here’s the thing:  We have no less access to God than Elijah did. And like Elijah, we can choose whether to trust God if He asks us to retrace a painful path from the past. God is just as gentle and powerful today as He was in the days of Elijah, and God can surely reveal new encouragement to you along an old road that you’d never revisit on your own.

 

Resource reading: 1 Kings 19:1-21