That Was Unexpected

Today I will be preaching at Pleasant Valley North. It is always a joy to be at PVN. The message will be from all we have been learning from 1 Kings 18 during our 21 Days of Connection.

I have also been writing a devotional, for churches here in Floyd County, who are participating in this special time of prayer and fasting. You can check out the website HERE.

I am also posting the devotions here on the blog as well. I trust what is written will encourage you.  The following is drawn from 1 Kings 18:32-35.

Do you remember what Elijah did that was so unexpected? Yes, he had a trench dug around the altar (1 Kings 18:32). The trench would hold a few gallons of water. No doubt, the digging of the trench caught the attention of those gathered around. Next he piled the wood on the altar and then he cut up the sacrifice and laid it on the altar (1 Kings 18:33). Whew, now we are back to “normal.” Perhaps Elijah just had a “senior moment” with that trench thing going on. Hold on, there’s more. Now he asks for the people to fill four large jars with water and to pour it over the offering and the wood. Whoa, we are way beyond a ‘senior moment” here. But that’s not all. He has this done two more times. So that means he had a total of 12 large jars of water poured over the wood, the sacrifice, and the altar. I’d put lighter fluid on there; but not water. What is he doing?

He is taking away any thought of him doing anything to start the fire on the altar. If the fire, he is praying for, comes upon the sacrifice and the altar it will truly be a miraculous event. Remember he had told the people “you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” (1 Kings 18:24 ESV). All the people agreed to this. Those who prayed to Baal were calling on the god of the thunderstorms and the god of fertility, that’s what Baal was known for in those days. Surely if anyone one could send fire and rain; a god of thunderstorms and fertility would be at the top of the list – but NOTHING happened when the people called out to him for hours. If the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel can send fire to a soaking wet sacrifice then he is truly God! And that is exactly what Elijah wanted the people to know.

As you may recall from last Friday’s devotional, Elijah did the unexpected and the people experienced the unusual. Maybe you can relate. No, you are not pouring water on an altar but you may have been involved in some different pursuits over past couple of weeks. If you have been fasting, there are certainly plenty who would think of that as a strange thing to do. Perhaps you have chosen to give up something that is important to you in order to seek after something that is even more important – that’s different than what most people will do. Gathering with people from various churches, to spend time praying during your lunch break – who would ever do a thing like that? Well, someone who wants to experience the presence of God in a fresh way is willing to do something that seems a bit “unexpected.”

So don’t worry that others may think you are doing something out of the ordinary. You may be one prayer away from seeing God do something miraculous.