Serving the Most High God is the greatest privilege we as his creation can perform. And yet life is hard, ministry is exhausting, and our bodies and emotions have their limits. In 1 Kings 19, Elijah was despondent and exhausted. He had been faithful in his service to God. He had been a part of incredible miracles. He prayed and saw fire fall from heaven! When the evil queen Jezebel threatened his life however, he was afraid and he fled. The Bible describes its heroes in very believable human ways. One minute we are on fire for God and the next minute it is almost like we’ve forgotten a life’s worth of lessons in following Jesus. 

Elijah needed to rest, refresh, and be reminded of God’s power and goodness. Elijah felt alone but he was not alone. Elijah felt like the situation was hopeless, but God was about to restore his hope:

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 

¹⁰ He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

God spoke to Elijah in a gentle whisper, shared with him his plan to destroy his enemies, and reminded him that he was not alone in ministry. There were still 7,000 that remained faithful to the Lord. This has been an emotional and exhausting last few weeks for all of us, but I want to encourage you that God is at work. 

On Monday and Tuesday Juan and Niko with the Cru missionaries, Veronika, Bekah, and Gaby, to share the love of Christ and gain interest in starting a Christian club on campus. They had dozens of great conversations, but one stood out. Read this text from Veronika:

Super encouraged by our time meeting students today! The last student Niko, Gaby and I talked to was named Ben, he’s actually listened to sermons from your church Scott! Because someone who goes to your church met him outside of a 1-800 got junk thing then mentioned he goes to Western Hills & that y’all stream church online. He’s not a Christian but sounds like he’s seeking! Niko and him exchanged contact info.

This encouraged me so much. Think of all the pieces that God used to reach into Ben’s life. Juan and Niko were faithful in sharing. Chen and the tech team were faithful to put a quality recording online. I was faithful in my teaching, and one of you was faithful to talk to a young man named Ben and simply invite him. This is a modern day example of “Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God gives the increase.” Pray for Ben and keep being faithful to do your part. God is at work.