As a young child, so inocent and trusting, I looked up to my Big Sister and believed what she told me. (You see I am the good one here, right?) She convinced me that in the small, quiet, peaceful town of Olive Branch, on little peaceful Coleman Street, under the back yard of the house on the hill at the end of the street, there were small, evil dwarfs who only opened their cave and attacked people at night. Therefore, I was terrified to walk down the street after dark.
One night we there was a group of us playing flashlight tag outside and the big kids let me play. My next door neighbor, a girl mind you, wanted to go hide on the other side of the fense which surrounded the back yard above the evil, hidden cave. What was I to do? I couldn't let a Girl know that I was scared, so I walked with her right past the cave, which I had seen twice before, and hid with her. I don't think she knew how scared I was at the time. She didn't realize how I was shaking and praying that the dwarfs would let us pass this night. An amazing thing happened; we survived!! Eventually, I realized that there was no hidden cave below the Prather's yard and I could walk down that hill at night without fear, well kinda.
It's funny how the darkness is so much scarier than the light. We all know, in our heads, that there is nothing in the darkness that is not there in the light, but we can see it in the light, and that makes all the difference. The enemy likes to use the dark to make us beleive we are in danger, to hold us captive and to keep us from moving forward. The unknown is scary for most. Many times we are even afraid when we know there is no reason, but we allow fear to creep in and sometimes slow us down or even stop us from doing what we know we should do.
In 1 Kings Elijah was God's prophet and the king had allowed Jezebel to influence him and now there were false gods being worshipped throughout the land and the majority of the people were following the lead of Jezebel. Elijah trusted God's Word and announced a drought would come. During this 3 year drought God provided for Elijah in many ways and allowed him to be a part of great miracles. At the end of the 3 years Elijah went before the king and made a challenge to the 450 prophets of baal. They all met on Mount Carmel and Elijah allowed the 450 to go first. They built an altar to their gods and asked the gods to ignite a fire for the altar. They spent the entire day praying, begging and even cutting themselves in hopes of an answer from the gods they served. No fire came.
Elijah now had his turn and he built the altar, placed the bull on the altar and had some men pour 12 large buckets of water over the altar to where the wood was soaked completely even the ditch around the altar was filled with water. He then prayed to the True God and fire came to the altar and everything on the altar was burned, even the water in the trench was dried up.
This was an amazing act of God and the people saw that the God of Elijah was the Real God, worhty of worship and praise. However, when Jezabel heard about it she threatened the life of Elijah and chapter 19, verse 3 says something that baffels me after such an incredible victory, "Elijah was afraid and ran for his life." After all the powerful and amazing things God had done in and through Elijah, he ran out of fear. He went to the wilderness to hide and slept in a dark cave. He wanted to give up.
I have been paralyzed with fear before. In fact, I'm scared right now. As I see what God is doing and think about who I am, I am terrified of failure. Fear has knocked me down and I've allowed it to keep me from moving forward or doing what I knew to be right. That is to my shame, but I'm learning again. I have also had times that I was fearless. I remember tackling a very difficult issue at church once and having a leader in the church hug me and tell me I was the most courageous man he knew. I didn't feel courageous at the time. I was scared but I was convicted that I was doing right so I did it. I want to be that man again. I want to be the adventurer, the inovator, the man willing to do what God says and go where God says, even when I am in the dark and can't see if the cave is open or not.
God asked Elijah, twice, why he was there and each time Elijah replied that it was because he had worked so hard and done right yet the people still want to kill him. God spoke to Elijah in a quiet voice and told him to go back and even though he was afraid, he went! Even in the fear he do what he knew God wanted him to do. He let fear slow him down and he even wanted to stop but ultimately he walked with God and let fear be defeated.
Isaiah 41:10 says, "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Why was Elijah afraid after such a great vicotry, I can't explain it, but it makes me see that it's human nature and no one is above fear. The solution is not to somehow never be afraid, the solution is to keep moving forward, doing what is right even when fear is present and the enemy is trying to keep you in the dark to enhance that fear. Let's all move forward this year and see what God will do in and through us as we let Him guide us through the darkness of fear into His light which always brings victory!
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