Isaiah: A Voice Crying in the Wilderness Isaiah 40:1–11 Prepare the way—comfort comes not in escape, but in God drawing near.

Elijah: The God Who Answers by Fire 1 Kings 18:17–39  God is not silent. When we stand on His truth, He shows up in power.

Moses: The Reluctant Deliverer Exodus 3:1–12-God calls the insecure and inadequate to lead with obedience, not self-confidence.

We are being inundated with stories of people walking away from their faith because they cannot reconcile what they believe with what they are experiencing. So many of the complaints made in this chapter could just come out of the news this week. God how do you keep allowing the same evil people to get ahead? God how can you allow people who claim to know love and follow you to mistreat each other and mistreat others without you interfering? God how long am I going to have to wait for you to show up and act like I expect you to?

When we find ourselves in this situation, we shouldn’t turn away from God in frustration and anger. God can handle our questions, and he even invites us to wrestle with Him; but we must always realize that He is God’ and we’re not. Notice that God did not shut Habakkuk out or shun him for being frustrated. God is big enough for our questions and our objections; he invites us to bring them to him in dialogue and to trust him with them.

God is at work, even among people who don’t realize what He is doing, He can use whoever he sees fit, and He can save whoever He sees fit, even if they do not fit into the narrative we like to tell. More often than not, God does not expect the fantastical or miraculous out of us, he expects simple obedience.

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And in times of crisis, when things happen that are out of our control, even when we did nothing wrong. Even when we have nothing but noble intentions, when a crisis occurs, it is not a sign of God's lack of faithfulness, but it is an opportunity for us to trust Him, so that He can demonstrate His faithfulness, even more.

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Elisha’s miracles provide life in many ways. Provision from the Lord comes in the form of oil that fills several borrowed bottles to rescue a family from indentured servanthood, as well as from the miracle of birth and restoration bringing joy and ultimate confidence to a family. Each points us to the truth that God has always been a faithful, providential God who knows the needs of his children—even before they know they need it. 

When we deal with isolation, when we deal with uncertainty. May we remember that We have a savior who came to be God with us, and we aren’t every truly isolated, and that God has given us His people that we can depend on. While we wait for Him to work.

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Bears aside, it is really easy to get caught up with the spectacular elements of the story. That is why the chapter begins with the highlight, “when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind,” because the things we are supposed to pay attention to are not the spectacular elements that we could never replicate, but the human elements that we can emulate. Elisha was faithful. He did what he said he was going to do, and got honored him for it. Elijah understood that serving God means preparing others to serve God. We can be faithful, and we can prepare the next generation to serve.

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Here is the encouragement; the good news…God can still work through us when we’re full of doubt. Our despair, disappointment, and depression do not limit what God can do for us or through us. At the height of Elijah's breakdown, God was still providing for him, and planning to use him in great ways.

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The contest on Carmel was not, as often billed, between Elijah and the prophets of Baal: it was between Elijah’s God and the false god Baal, and once the people had declared their allegiance to the one true God, Elijah had them prove it…God doesn’t want a half-hearted people. He wants us on Sundays, yes, but he wants us the rest of the week as well. 

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