"Strenght & Weakness"

Victory Can Be Yours!

Article #63 – “Strength & Weakness”

               In reading and studying the Scriptures, we learn of many special personalities.  One of my favorites is Elijah.  Probably the reason he is one of my favorites is because in the book of James, Elijah is described as having a nature like ours.  Elijah was a man with great spiritual strength and also a man with human frailties like us.  God reveals to us in 1 Kings 17-19 what a great man of God he was and yet how frail he could be.

               Most of the great heroes of the Bible were the same.        Abraham lied about his wife Sarah and warred against kings to protect his family and possessions and, was chosen by God to establish a new nation.  Abraham showed his humanity and his weakness and as he grew in faith obeyed God when tested by Him.  David committed adultery and murder, and yet grew to be known as a man after God’s own heart.  The Apostle Paul was probably the world’s greatest evangelist and yet he states, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” (Rom. 7:24, 25)  Every person from time to time has struggled with the old sin nature.  As our faith grows our struggles become fewer as is found to be true in each mentioned above.

               “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.” (James 5:17)  After God told Elijah to go to King Ahab and pray that it would not rain for three and a half year, God told him to go and hide.  Elijah had a nature like you but, can you imagine the courage it would take to approach the king and do as God had instructed him?  This king Ahab ruled in Israel for 22 years and, “Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him.” (1 Kings 16:30)  This would make any human being tremble to think of approaching an evil king, especially one married to Jezebel who was possibly more evil than her husband.  More than likely, most of us would respond to God like Jonah when asked to go to the Ninevites to warn them of coming judgment.  Jonah ran from God rather than obey him as Elijah did.  You see, Jonah also was a man with a nature like ours.  We, too, can lack the courage to do as instructed by God through His Word.

               It is not easy to be a Christian and follow God’s instructions.  In fact, most of us fail most of the time.  As much as we want to do the right things for God, we often fall short.  Just as Paul described himself in Chapter seven of Romans (Rom. 7:14-25), we have two natures, the old nature before believing in Jesus and the new nature following our new birth in Jesus.  My old mentor of several years ago told me that it is like having within you a black dog and a white dog.  They are continually battling within you but the one that wins the battle is the one you say “sic him” to.  It is a struggle that never ends, however, the more we grow in our faith, the fewer and less intense the struggles become.  You can look at all of the Godly men in the Bible to prove that is true.

               You, too, can have victory in Jesus!  More to follow regarding Elijah.

Lowell Parrish