Gifts and Talents

           Elijah just had a great victory on Mount Carmel. He challenged the profits of Baal to make an alter and to sacrifice a bull, but to put no fire under it. Then to just ask their god to bring fire to consume the sacrifice. The profits of Baal had prayed most of the day for fire to come down for their sacrifice. But nothing happened. Elijah asked God for fire to come down and consume their sacrifice. The fire came and consumed everything. The bull, the wood, the water, and the stones. Nothing was left of the sacrifice. Elijah then took all the 450 profits of Baal and killed everyone of them. When Jezebel heard this, she threatened Elijah that she would kill him by the same time the next day. Elijah ran away. He left his servant in a town, and went to the wilderness, He prayed to God to take his life. He was very depressed.

      Elijah was in a dry place. He wanted to die. We often are in the the same place as Elijah. Most of these dry places happen after we have a great victory, or we have done some great thing for the Lord. We feel like we should stop serving the Lord, and this will not happen again. That is what the enemy wants. He wants to crush us. He is trying to discourage us so we will stop serving God. This is were we should do more for the Lord, not less. We need to spit in the eye of the enemy, and tell him to go away. We need to tell the enemy that we are the servants of the Lord most high, and He will take care of us.

      Elijah went to Elisha to ordain him; to take his place. Elijah was taken to Heaven and did not die. He will return to earth with Enoch to be a witness for God.

God still has more for you to do. He will not leave us. He is always with us, even when we do not feel Him. Everyone will go through these dry places; sometimes more than once or twice. When we have those dry places; God is using those to propel us to another level. He uses those dry places to promote us to something better than we had before.

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      New King James Version
1 Kings 19:1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time."
3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!"