Fixing your gaze

Elijah was indeed a great prophet of God. He was used by God to instill sanity and Godly fear into the hearts of the most godless king and queen Israel ever had- Ahab and Jezebel. Here he was on Mount Carmel, mocking the prophets of Baal, and then calling down the fire of God to consume an entire altar that had been soaked in water. Just after that, 450 prophets of Baal were killed, rain was promised and delivered and Elijah ran on foot to Jezreel ahead of Ahab's chariot. Talk of a prophet literally on fire for God.

And then,Jezebel threatened to kill Elijah and he ran away. You would wonder why. We may not know why but the gravest danger is to take your eyes off God to see the challenges surrounding you. We trust God to a point and when it appears as if things are not getting better, we shift focus and begin to try option B.

Sometimes, we have a clear idea of how our prayers will be answered and we expend so much energy waiting for that answer, while God would have had his way and moved on to the next level.
We must fix our eyes so steadily on God that our challenges lose their strength in the light of the trust we have in God. We must never get to a point where we think we can make it outside of God. Our past achievements don't matter, what counts is what you are doing now and who you trust now.

Elijah's ministry effectively ended when he ran. God met him while on exile and while he was busy talking of all he had done for God, God was already appointing successors to the kings of Syria and Israel and the effectively-vacant post of prophet.
Spiritual check: Where is my gaze fixed? Who am I dependent on? Do I have a record of achievements for God that keeps me from moving on to the next level with God? Am I so fixed on the stormss around me that I cannot recognise the presence of the Master of all storms? I must keep on trusting the wisdom of the master. It may not happen the way I plan but what matters is that God is glorified.

Naaman didn't get clean tilll he dipped into Jordan the 7th time; the rain clouds didn't appear till Elijah's prophet was sent to check the 7th time; Jericho's wall didn't fall till the 7th time of marching around the city on the 7th day. Hold on,keep trusting, keep believing God. No records exist of his failures. His time of favour has come.