“Encouragement – or Fear?”

“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 more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” ³ Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there. ⁴ But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” ⁵ Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” ⁶ He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. ⁷ The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” ⁸ He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. ⁹ At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰ He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” ¹¹ He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹² and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴ He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” ¹⁵ Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. ¹⁶ Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.” 1 Kings 19:1-16

“If we approach a conflict or trial with fear and trembling and shrinking, it will very likely prove a stumbling-stone to us; but if we approach it with calm confidence in God and a settled determination to overcome, we may make it a stepping-stone upon which we may mount to higher and better things. Sometimes things that are at first very discouraging to us afterwards become sources of help and encouragement…” (C.W. Naylor, “Heart Talks”, p. 191)

Elijah, even the great prophet Elijah feels defeated – and he stands before the Lord a beaten man – or so he thinks. Just 40 days removed from defeating the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel in such dramatic fashion, he stands on a mountain allowing fear to seize him. He stands on Horeb, the mountain of G-d, feeling defeated. How quickly he went from victory, to fear – from triumph to retreat. But then, he learns another amazing lesson from the Lord. He is told to stand up, for the Lord was about to pass him by. Elijah feels a great wind, an earthquake, and a great fire, before he experiences an immense silence. He is told that the Lord was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. Instead the Lord was in the silence.

You see, when he felt as if G-d had withdrawn, in fact the Lord was ever-present in the silence. What that silence is, is what C.W. Naylor calls “calm confidence”. We experience fear in wind storms, earthquakes and fire storms. Some might point to such events and say “that is the power of G-d”. Scripture tells us that we feel the power of G-d most in the silence – in being led to the still waters – in following the Lord who keeps us from evil. Calm-confidence does not come from the earthquakes of our lives – calm-confidence comes from the way we deal with the recovery. The Lord can take everything we face that shakes us to our very core – and give us the peace that surpasses all understanding.

Pastor Dave 

Stumbling-Stones, Or Stepping-Stones?

“Jesus said to his disciples, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! ² It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. ³ Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. ⁴ And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.” Luke 17:1-4

“Things may be stumbling-stones or stepping-stones to us. They may be hindrances or helps—trials or blessings. What they prove to be depends not so much on their nature as upon our attitude toward them. It is not our opportunities that count, but the use that we make of them. It is not how much money we possess, but the wisdom we display in its expenditure. It is not how many obstacles we meet in life, but the manner in which we meet them.” (C.W. Naylor, “Heart Talks”, p. 189)

One of the things I have not mentioned about Reverend Naylor is the affliction he found himself facing later in his life. After thirteen years in the ministry, he experienced some sort of internal injury that left him bedridden for the remainder of his life. He was in constant pain. He talks about his affliction and the depression he first encountered – and his friends and family encountered on his behalf. He talks about the difficulty that this reality had on the faith of his friends and family. And then, in the face of his battle, the friends and family who were at his side began to be encouraged by  the manner he faced his troubles. He writes, “The affliction itself was the same; the change was in them; for that which was once a source of discouragement would have continued so had they continued to look at it as they had formerly done.”

Life will give us all kinds of stumbling stones – the challenge is to see each one as a stepping-stone for our faith. Yes, these epiphanies will not always be immediate, but the longer we endure, the more we trust G-d’s wisdom and plan, the more intimately we rely on the guidance of the light of Christ in our lives, the more each struggle will become a strength. When life gives you a stumbling-stone – ask yourself, “How can I use this as a stepping-stone?” As Naylor says, “It is not how many obstacles we meet in life, but the manner in which we meet them.”

Pastor Dave