Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:00 — 4.1MB)
Are you in a tough place right now? I want to encourage you to know that God will never let go of you. When we are born from above, the Bible teaches us that nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. God won’t let go of you!
Think of Elijah. You remember the story found in 1 Kings 18, where Elijah challenged all the prophets of Baal, with great courage, and their pagan gods could not deliver them. Elijah triumphed over all that evil, proving that Jehovah God was the only true god. It was an incredible victory.
But the very next day, brave Elijah becomes a coward, fearful of one woman, Jezebel, who has threatened to kill him. And he starts running for his life. Elijah no doubt would have been diagnosed today as having a deep depression, even as being deluded, as he ran for his life. But God didn’t let go, and with great patience and kindness, he nurtured him back to strength, taught him some wonderful lessons, and brought him out of that deep funk an even better man of God.
Are you there today? Has your faith failed you; are you full of fear? Are you in that kind of deep depression where everything looks hopeless, you feel worthless, and you’re sure that life is coming to an end—at least life with any meaning? I want to encourage you today to know that God won’t let go of you. He will patiently guide you back to wholeness, as he did with Elijah.
How did Elijah recover? He needed some rest and some nourishment, first of all. You know, when you are physically depleted, it will affect you spiritually and emotionally. So God put him in a quiet place for some rest and nourishment. Then he reminded Elijah of who God is, he helped him get beyond the pity party he was having, and then he sent Elisha to be his companion and co-worker.
God never let go of Elijah, and if you are his child, he will not let go of you. David wrote: “For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock” (Psalm 27:5).