Weekend Words

From A Year's Journey with God...

Alone Against Evil

Ahab summoned everyone in Israel ... to Mount Carmel.  Elijah challenged the people: 'How long are you going to sit on the fence?  If God is the real God, follow him; if it's Baal, follow him.  Make up your minds!' 1 Kings 18:21-22, The Message

Have you ever walked along a busy street looking into the faces of the people coming towards you?  Because they think no one is watching them, it is easy to see the stress, sadness and resentment they usually hide underneath their masks.  When my grandmother was a child, people in Britain still lived by Christian values, but few do today.  Have you ever longed to go on national TV and ask, 'If the permissive society hasn't brought you happiness and security, why don't you come back to Christ?  Elijah did exactly that, but not on TV!  He came out of hiding to discover that even the drought hadn't turned the people's hearts to God, and Jezebel was systematically exterminating anyone who still had faith in Him (1 Kings 18:13).  So Elijah summoned the nation to a mountain-top confutation.  If you don't know the story, give yourself a treat and read 1 Kings 18.

It takes enormous courage to stand up for God all on your own.  Perhaps you often have to do that?  You might be the only Christian in your family, workplace or social network; people around you all live by totally different standards.  By nature you may prefer to 'merge in' and not look different, but that would mean compromising the ideals of your faith.  It is easy to think, 'What difference can a minority group of one possibly make?'  But one person and God are always a majority, so don't lose heart.

Fire from heaven did not convince Elijah's audience, but his unwavering example during the rest of his life brought many to faith. 

From Be Still and Know...

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direst thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

When I have need of direction and guidance for my life, I claim these verses more than any others as my assurance of God's promise to undertake for me.

How many times have we asked ourselves, "What am I to do?  What is God's will for me?"  God wants us to know His will for our lives.  "Wherefore be ye not unwise but, understanding what the will of the Lord is" (Ephesians 5: 17).

We are promised God's guidance in this Scripture passage, but it has a conditional promise.

First, if we are to know and do His will, we must trust Him with all our heart.  It has been said, "Faith consists of belief and trust.  We believe with our minds but when it reaches the heart it becomes trust."  We are to trust in the Lord with ALL our heart.  In one language the word for trust means "leaning your whole weight upon Him."

Next, we are to put no confidence in ourselves, "Lean not unto thine own understanding."  Instead of depending on human wisdom, we must seek the wisdom that comes from above.  "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God" (James 1:5).  Then we are to acknowledge Him in ALL our ways, every area of our lives.  This is to acknowledge that He has the right to be on the throne of our lives, in complete control.

We are to acknowledge Him in the affections of our heart, the thoughts of the mind, and the decisions of the will.  To acknowledge God in all our ways is a committal of all our ways to Him in submissiveness.  "In everything you do, put God first" (Proverbs 3:6, LB).  There is a two-fold relationship between God and man in these verses.  Our part is to trust, lean on, and acknowledge Him.  If we keep our part, God has promised to keep His part in directing our path.  This is a never-failing promise to the one who meets its conditions.