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“The Freedom of Being Dispensable”

1Kings19_11-12

Dear CrossPointe,

We’ll take a break from our series on 2 Peter this Sunday and consider a familiar story in 1 Kings 19:1–18, the story of Elijah’s flight from Jezebel. If you recall, just a chapter earlier Elijah is seen boldly defeating (and slaughtering) the prophets of Baal. In a mighty display of God’s sheer power, he calls down fire from heaven and incinerates an offering to the Lord, while Baal is shown to be a fraud.

But when Elijah gets word of the queen’s wrath at this turn of events, he literally runs for his life as if he’s forgotten the God he serves! Exhausted, he rests under a tree, waiting for death, when the Lord ministers to his servant, not only providing sustenance for the journey but taking him even further to a familiar place, Mt. Horeb (aka Sinai). Once again, the Lord reveals something of himself to his prophet and to us. For all his grandeur and might, the Lord can accomplish his purposes with a mere whisper. Not only that, but he shows Elijah that while the Lord is pleased to employ his servants, none of us are indispensable.

This might sound disappointing at first glance (and it’s not clear that Elijah ever warms up to the Lord’s application of this truth), but I hope we’ll see that being aware of just how “dispensable” we are is actually the gateway to serving the Lord with faithfulness, gladness, and fruitfulness.

Read the text and ask the Lord to reveal himself to us this Sunday, and be sure to register yourself if you haven’t.

See you soon!

Robert