Oh Elijah...

In our monthly Friday conversational group tonight we talked about stress.  In particular, we talked about Elijah's experience when he ran from Jezebel.  This guy was so stressed out because of Jez's death threats that he ran into a neighbouring country to hide in a cave in the desert.  Elijah's problem wasn't his circumstance, it was his interpretation of and perspective on his circumstance. He forgot about God's past faithfulness to him, and he forgot that God was in charge of the future.  So he panicked.  God had to "gently" remind him that He had a different perspective. To God, everything was going good. To Elijah, it couldn't have been worse.

In our small church it can be very easy to forgot about God's faithfulness in the past, and that he controls the future. It can be easy to stress out about finances, attendance, personal troubles among members, how particular people are enjoying their experience etc.  The reality for me is that God called us to this vision, and that success is defined by our faithfulness, not by anything else.  God is in control and is pleased to use us to lead others into a growing relationship with him.  

And so we refuse to run into the desert and hide in a cave. Instead, we take each day on its own, trusting that God has gone before us.  We look forward to seeing how he's going to accomplish His vision through us.