It’s been God’s intentions from the beginning to get His people to walk with Him. Amos says: How can two walk together unless they agree? What God is wanting us to agree with, is that we will walk by faith not sight.
Our eyes may help us live successfully in a physical world, but they are of little use as spiritual people living for the glory of God. In fact, living by sight can be the greatest hindrance to living by faith. It challenges us when we want to rely on God with messages that make us doubt instead. But, living by sight is our natural programming. It’s how we’re wired as people. To live by faith, we have to be reprogrammed.
Ezek 36:26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
The old heart functioned in an old life, but God was going to change life. A changed life needed a new heart. Jesus said: John 10:10 I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. As a Christian, life will no longer be lived successfully by relying only on our abilities to adapt to our physical world but how we may live abundantly in Him.
In fact, we will find that the original programming for sight will actually conflict with living by faith.
Gal 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.
We’ve used a lot of contradictory terms in describing the same thing. Ezekiel refers to the original programming as a heart of stone, insensitive to the presence and purposes of God. The promise is changing that heart of stone into a heart of flesh so it can respond to God.
Paul talks about the flesh as the default setting of life, by flesh he means the natural desires that drive us to please ourselves and resist God. The Spirit is the new setting that connects us with what is necessary to please God by trusting and obeying Him.
But the picture is the same: heart of stone or our flesh are our default settings of sight by which we process life in response to what we see. However, as people of faith, we can’t let our eyes tell us what’s true or not, neither can what we see suggest how we live.
Which means we choose to live by faith and not sight. If we do not purpose to live by faith we will fall back to living by sight. It doesn’t matter if we’ve been with the Lord for a week or seventy years. We have to choose the target for where we will place our hope and then set on that target the intentions for how we live.
Last week we looked at Elijah defeating the prophets of Baal. It was a challenge God set up to prove He was the genuine God. The God who answered by fire was God. The one who didn’t was the counterfeit. Fire fell, people cheered and the prophets of Baal were destroyed. But have you ever read on to see what happened next?
You’d think Elijah would ride the high of that experience for years to come, retelling the story of what God did in that crucial moment. “There I was on Mt. Carmel. Just me against 450 prophets of Baal.” And then building on that success with even greater things that God would call him to do.
1Kings 19:1 Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time." 3 And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came 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 juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers." 5 He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, "Arise, eat." 6 Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 The angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you." 8 So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 10 He said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
Doesn’t even sound like the same man. “God, this isn’t fair. The best day of my life has been ruined by this evil woman. My life is over. I just want to die. I don’t want to be killed, just die.”
How could a man of God fall so far in such a short time? James answers that: James 5:17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours…
Charles Spurgeon said, “The best of men are but men at best.”
What was he doing? Reverting back to his default settings. He lost touch with faith and was now living by sight. A prophet of God can do that? Anyone can do that.
Rom 8:5 For those who are walking according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are walking according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
Elijah wasn’t doing something out of the ordinary. In fact, that is the ordinary way to deal with set-backs. If we don’t choose to walk in faith, we will walk in the darkness of sight. That’s the natural response when we look at life through the eyes of the flesh. We see how things look and then believe that’s all that’s going on.
Elijah was dealing with basic problems we all experience:
Fatigue – He was tired. He’d just run 50 miles from Carmel to Jezreel. Then another 100 miles from Jezreel to Beersheba.
1Kings 18:46 Then the hand of the LORD was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and outran Ahab to Jezreel. 1Kings 19:3 And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, 4 but he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness,
Fear – Jezebel had threatened his life. "So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time." And he was scared and ran for his life.
Feelings - My life is over. It isn’t worth living. "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers." How we feel generates much of what we think. Tell someone operating from feelings that what they’re feeling isn’t true and they’ll say, “It doesn’t matter what’s true. It’s how I feel.”
The Lord’s reply: eat, rest, answer: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He wasn’t questioning Elijah’s location but attitude. Why have you taken my purposes for you and wrapped them in your sorrow? Why have you let yourself get so low?
It’s so common, we’ve created slogans for people to not give up.
Winners never quit/quitters never win
When the going gets tough the tough get going
Rub some dirt on it and let’s go.
But, we’ll argue, I’m the exception. My problems are far beyond what anyone else has gone through. Nobody knows the troubles I’ve seen.
You know the difference between a BIG PROBLEM and a little problem? A BIG PROBLEM is anything I’m going through. A little problem is anything YOU are going through!
Elijah wasn’t in some unique moment. He was in a common moment. The Lord was saying: Elijah, you’re not the only one who’s been where you are.
1Cor 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
What is the common trail to giving up?
Disappointment
Discouragement
Defeat
Depression
Despair – hopelessness
Elijah had undoubtedly run through all these symptoms while he ran to Beersheba and was now stuck in the last – despair.
You don’t get to despair without passing through the other stages. But to get there you have to deny a Bible full of truth and reject God’s hand extended to lift you up along the way.
Deut 28:65 Among those nations [connect that with the flesh, the natural tendencies of sight] you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. 66 So your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life.
That’s where thoughts of ending life come from. Dread of life has overwhelmed us. Losing hope because what we see has made us assume things that aren’t true.
What was God asking Elijah? "What are you doing here, Elijah?" Why did you stop at this point in your life?
He’s not discounting Elijah’s emotions. Or denying he is tired and hungry. He’s asking why did you get stuck here? Why did you let sight cause you to assume things that aren’t true?
You think this is the end of the world? It’s not. So, quit acting like it is. Have I disappeared? Am I no longer your God? Have the promises suddenly become null and void? Have the plans I’ve made for you come to an end?
Max Lucado wrote: “God likes you just the way you are but He loves you too much to let you stay that way!”
Elijah, look. You may be done with me, but I’m not done with you. I’m still at work. Get your eyes back on me. Stop looking at your circumstances and look at Me.
Heb 12:3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
We can run on Fear.
We can run on Feelings.
We can run on Fumes.
Or we can run on Faith!
A little girl had been trying for months to learn to tie her shoes. She finally got it and was able to do it by herself. Her parents expected her to be delighted, and were surprised by her disappointment. Her father asked why she was crying. "I just learned how to tie my shoes." He said, "That’s great, but why are you crying?" "Because now I’ll have to do it all by myself for the rest of my life."
Faith isn’t only for getting this life started but it’s what sustains it. We come in by faith. We live by faith. That’s called living on purpose.
Elijah should have remembered:
Ps 9:10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.
Ps 56:3-4 When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?
Ps 43:5 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.
"Five Feet High and Rising" by Johnny Cash
My mama always taught me that good things come from
adversity if we put our faith in the Lord. We couldn't see much good in the
flood waters when they were causing us to have to leave home, but when the
water went down, we found that it had washed a load of rich black bottom dirt
across our land. The following year we had the best cotton crop we'd ever had.
How high's the water, mama? Two feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa? Two feet high and risin'
We can make it to the road in a homemade boat
That's the only thing we got left that'll float
It's already over all the wheat and the oats, Two feet high and risin'
How high's the water, mama? Three feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa? Three feet high and risin'
Well, the hives are gone, I've lost my bees
The chickens are sleepin' in the willow trees
Cow's in water up past her knees, Three feet high and risin'
How high's the water, mama? Four feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa? Four feet high and risin'
Hey, come look through the window pane,
The bus is comin', gonna take us to the train
Looks like we'll be blessed with a little more rain, Four feet high and risin'
How high's the water, mama? Five feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa? Five feet high and risin'
Well, the rails are washed out north of town
We gotta head up to higher ground
Can't come back till the water comes down,
Five feet high and risin'
Well, it's five feet high and risin'
This week, especially Monday, the water rose up four feet in my life. I had four separate matters that were heavy disappointments. One broke my heart. Others tried to break my spirit. But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
I needed help so I went to our Wednesday prayer group for prayer. I came away with the word: Stop looking at life through the eyes of the flesh, quit making assumptions that aren’t true. Look at all of these through the eyes of faith. When you do, you’ll find that even 2Tim 2:13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
How high’s the water rising in your life? Well, as long as you’re still breathing, there’s still time to look up and trust in the mighty hand of God to lift you out of the flood. If you need help ask for prayer. Come and let folks pray for you.
TAKEAWAYS:
- If there are any exceptions to any of the promises of God, then none of the promises can be trusted.
- All that God has said is true or none of it is.
- If He has said: “I will accomplish what concerns you,” what does that leave out in what you are facing right now?
- God is either completely adequate to tend to the issues of our lives or He is not.
- I choose to live believing He is.
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