Faith In The Face Of Fear

“Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 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.’ And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 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.’ He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, ‘Arise, eat.’ 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. 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.’ 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,” (1 Kings 19:1-8, NASB).

In 1 Kings 18, Elijah experienced one of the most dynamic victories in all of Scripture. Armed with unflinching faith in the Lord, he faced down 450 priests of the local false deities. God moved mightily, destroying the idolaters and bringing glory to Himself throughout Israel. What a fantastic win!

But right after this confrontation, when Elijah’s faith should have been at its peak, he became scared. In 1 Kings 19, the prophet learned that the evil queen Jezebel had called for his death. Apparently forgetting God’s mighty victory just moments before, Elijah ran away. How could this be?

Elijah’s story reminds us that success and spiritual growth do not necessarily go hand in hand; our faith can waver at any time. In fact, when we’re successful and confidence is high, that’s often when we turn our eyes away from the Giver of strength and toward ourselves.

Our victory is always in God’s hands. Don’t be fooled: He may work in, around, or through us to accomplish His purpose, but it is always His victory. Have you been distracted by success? Turn your eyes back to God. All praise and glory are rightly His. And He is also the source of freedom from fear.

Jeff