Joel M Bradshaw

1Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”–1 Kings 17

1. Israel had a demon-worshiper for a king.
2. National politics didn’t care one bit about the things of God. But God was still at work.
3. God directed a drastic miracle meant to bring humility and dependance upon the nation.
4. I look back at my college years as the time of my greatest season of hypocrisy. I lived with addictive behaviors and sinful habits that didn’t honor God. And at the time, I refused to get any help.
5. And it was during this youthful season of my greatest physical strength, that God chose to give me MS. MS weakened my strength, sapped my endurance, brought humility to my life, and taught me to depend upon God in trust every day. I type these words feeling sore and weak and mentally planning my steps/activity for this day.
6. I am grateful for the journey God has brought me on, but I do look back and consider the timing of it all. My greatest season of hypocrisy seemed to have received a catastrophic diagnosis! I see the same with Ahab, Elijah, and a drought.
7. God is still at work even though evil seems to win. In this text, I was once more like Ahab and needed to repent. How about your story? How is God at work in your life? Are you being taught to depend on Him in faith during this season?–JMB