The Prophet
Have you ever felt God nudging you toward something scary? Maybe it's forgiving someone who hurt you deeply, sharing your faith at work, or letting go of a dream that defines your identity. The cost feels high. Reputation, comfort, or even relationships are on the line. Disobeying seems safer, but what if it costs more in the long run? Three questions cut through the noise: What is God asking of you? What will it cost you? What will disobeying cost you? Elijah's story in 1 Kings 17 answers these with raw obedience and surprising provision.
Elijah's Background and Status
Elijah was an outsider.
From beyond the Jordan in the lands that were part of Israel, but not really. He was from the fringes. As far as you can get from power.
His family was a family of wanderers who would go from place to place looking for work. They would stay wherever there was work and then move on.
He had no status. No influence. Only the authority of God's message.
Ahab's Sins as the Crisis
Ahab was the evil king of Israel. He was married to Jezebel. Let's just say her name means "not nice lady" for a reason. They led the nation in idolatry.
The problem wasn't just worshipping other gods, but the way they worshipped. They would sacrifice babies in fire. There is strong implication that they burned them alive. They used cult prostitution. They did all kinds of other horrible things as part of their acts of worship.
God warned them over and over to stop. They never did. So God sent Elijah to stop them.
The Confrontation and Risks
1 Kings 17:1 (ESV): “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
This guy who no one knows and who knows no one, this guy who grew up in a migrant laborer family, confronts his own king with words from God. He does it by making a bold declaration. No more rain.
Can you imagine how tough that would have been for him?
First, to confront power when you have none? To walk into a king’s court with their fine clothes and baths and tell them what to do, all because God told you to. A God that they have rejected over and over. To make yourself the kings enemy. Prophets have been killed before. They can be killed again.
Second, for a kid that grew up farming or tending sheep to be responsible or even just feel responsible for stopping rain. He wouldn’t know it, but the rain would stop for three years. What’s it like for a farmer to decide to stop rain for three years? I’ve never been a farmer, but we grew up with cows and you’d get in trouble with my grandparents for even wishing the rain would stop after a few days. You take all the rain you can get whenever you can get it. How will his people work? What will they eat? All because he obeyed God?
Third, what if it doesn’t work? How stupid will he look if God doesn’t follow through? Some of us would rather die than look stupid. We’d rather risk injury than be proven wrong if given the choice. What if he’s wrong?
If God told you to go talk to a king with no limits to his power and tell him that he needs to repent or you will call down punishment on him, his kingdom, his economy, and his people, would you? Would you risk it all?
Elijah did.
You can say that he knew it was going to work out and that God was going to take care of him, but he didn’t. God didn’t tell him that He was going to take care of him until later. He just told him to go and get himself in trouble. Once he had obeyed, God told him what to do next.
God's Provision Step by Step
2 And the word of the Lord came to him: 3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook (1 Kings 17:2-6, ESV).
People get this idea that God talked to prophets all the time. He didn’t. Most of the prophetic books in the Old Testament are short. God would talk to them two or three times in their whole lives. There are decades between some of these messages. Elijah was fortunate to receive one message from God. I want you to understand how relieved he must have been to receive a second message shortly after this first one.
Then, look at what God said. Obeying God the first time was tough. It took him away from home. It required him to face power. How relieved must he have been when he heard where God wanted him to go.
Where is it? Back toward home. Not all the way home, but back in the direction where he feels comfortable. Away from the center of power. God wasn’t cruel to him. God tested him and then when he obeyed, He let off the gas. Not only that, but He took care of him.
The thing that might not have occurred to you, but definitely occurred to Elijah, was that it wasn’t just everyone else who was going to suffer. What was he going to eat? He was calling in an airstrike on his own house. If the water is all gone, what will he drink? If the crops can’t grow, what will he eat? Obedience to God in this thing puts him in a position of suffering. But, he had faith and obeyed anyway.
I want you to imagine that God asks you to do something that will cause you suffering if you obey. It’s one thing to be Jonah and go preach repent or die to another country that you hate. It’s another to preach repent or die to your own hometown.
If you’ve read this story, you know he was ok, but he didn’t have this book. He didn’t know and God didn’t tell him. He thought he was going to suffer. But, he obeyed anyway.
He could have disobeyed. He could have said, “God, that’s too much. I’m too scared. What if I get executed? What if they’re mean to me? What if I lose my job? What if I don’t have any food? What if I can’t find a place to live?” He could have said, “No”.
And what would have happened? God would have either sent a land whale to Jonah him or God would have picked someone else. And then what would have happened? Well, if he picks someone else, then all the things Elijah was afraid of would have happened anyway, except without the brook and raven door dash. Elijah would have been looking for work in Tishbe during a three year drought while someone else was napping under a tree next to a stream.
Elijah’s obedience and willingness to face his fears was what put him in a position to be provided for when the drought hit the fan. If he had played it safe because he was too scared, all of his fears would have hit, but without the benefit of God’s provision through his faithfulness.
Elijah isn’t a superhero to anyone yet. He’s just a guy who trusted God. But, the first step in being a paragon of faith and mighty vessel of the power of God was right here. God said I want you to go and deliver a message. That message might get you killed. It might get you fired. It might get you banished. It might see you starve to death. Will you do it anyway? The thing that made Elijah different wasn’t the opportunity that was given, but the response. Yes. I’ll go. No guarantees. No explanations. Just faith.
Let's Apply the Three Questions
1. What Is God Asking of You?
Maybe you see yourself both in Ahab and Elijah. Maybe you see God calling you to step away from your sin and to worship Him. Maybe He’s put a drought in your life to try to get you to come to Him, but you’re resisting.
The first step to a relationship with Him is a recognition of your sin. A recognition that you cannot do this on your own. You can’t make up for your sin. You can’t stop your sin. You are a sinner and you can’t make it go away.
Like Elijah, He’s asking you to step up to a life of faith. To trust Him when He says that He can do it for you. To trust Him when He says that He can handle the sin for you.
In John 3, Jesus says that there are two options for judgement for every person.
John 3:18 (ESV): "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."
You can either be judged by your actions and be found guilty or you can be judged by your faith. If you are judged by your faith, then you are judged by His actions, not yours. You are still guilty, but He has taken your punishment.
If you realize that you are a sinner who cannot save yourself, if you believe that He is the only Son of God who can save you, and if you call out to Him for forgiveness and rescue, He will save you.
Maybe you already know Him and this is all Elijah for you. He’s calling you to step out and do something, but you’re scared.
He’s calling you to step out of your dream and into His calling for you.
He’s calling you to let go of your hurt and anger and forgive.
He’s calling you to share the gospel.
He’s calling you to step up and serve.
But, you won’t. You’re scared or you just don’t want to. So, let’s stop pretending for a moment.
What is He asking and why are you saying no?
2. What Will It Cost You?
Maybe you’re worried about the cost. What will people say? What will this new life look like? What will you lose?
Those are valid fears. Elijah had the same kind of fears. But, that’s not the right question. The right question is what will disobeying cost you?
3. What Will Disobeying Cost You?
Is anything you lose from following Jesus now worth losing for eternity?
Think of what Elijah gained from his obedience? Could he ever have predicted the way God would provide for him? Do you think you’re better at predicting how God can provide for you?
Those people that you’re afraid of losing? What if this is the first step in them coming to know Him, too? Will you risk them never coming to know Him in order to keep them for yourself?
There is a risk involved for sure, but Elijah gained far more than he lost and he only gained it when he was willing to risk losing it through faith.
Elijah would have endured the drought with no brook, no ravens, and no sky meat like everyone else if he had done what you’re doing. What are you missing out on?
What relief and rest are you missing out on by holding on to that pain?
What new dream and satisfaction are you missing out on by holding on to your paycheck and ambition?
What contentment are you missing out on by reserving all that time for yourself that could be given to others?
What joy are you missing out on from seeing others come to know Jesus because you’re too scared of what might happen if you were to tell them?
You lose something every day by saying no to Him and you don’t even know what it is.
Obedience is scary, but obedience is the path to provision.
Elijah was set up to be cared for and experience a life like few others. But, he only got to see that life when he was willing to step out in faith and follow God without knowing where the path would lead. You can keep ignoring Him. He will let you. But, you may not even realize how bad the drought you're in is until you finally give in and experience what it’s like to step out in faith.
