God really can use you

Do you ever feel insignificant? When we look at the situations around us, they seem so huge and we wonder what difference we could ever make. And then there are really gifted people already doing all they can - and how can we compare ourselves with them? We have no experience. We have no training. Or maybe we've grown up listening to messages telling us that we're no good at anything, and we've heard it so often that we've started to believe it. Or maybe we've started to believe that because we come from a certain background we have nothing to offer. And so we keep our heads down, we don't get involved, and we believe that God can't possibly want to involve us in his plans.

The next part of the Elijah story (1 Kings 17) shows how God uses the most unlikely people in the most unlikely places. In fact, the more unlikely it is, from a human perspective, the better it is from God's perspective, because then we learn to rely on him, and depend on him, rather than ourselves. It is in our weakness that God demonstrates his strength and power.

From Elijah's cultural/religious background the widow at Zarephath would be the last person he would go to in order to find provision in a time of drought and famine. She was a foreigner. She was a woman. She was a widow. She lived in the heartland of Baal worship (see yesterday). And yet this widow was exactly the person that God had spoken to and wanted to use to provide for Elijah in a miraculous way. The most unlikely person in the most unlikely place.

When it comes to doing amazing things for God maybe you see yourself as the most unlikely person. That's great - because that's exactly where God wants us to start from - because it's ultimately not about us - it's about God working in us, and through us, as we make ourselves available to him, and are obedient to his call.

Elijah - a good man to have on a camping trip

This past week, as I've been preparing for Sunday's talk on the Old Testament prophet Elijah, it was clear that there was far too much for one message - there was probably enough for a whole series. So over the next couple of days I'll look at a few of the bits of Elijah's life we couldn't cover yesterday.

Yesterday I briefly mentioned that our introduction to Elijah (1 Kings 17:1) is as he gives king Ahab the message that there will be no more rain in the next few years unless Elijah gives the say so. Such a claim is pretty amazing in and of itself - for anyone who can control the weather is clearly getting help from a greater authority than themselves.

But this claim becomes more significant when we look back to 1 Kings 16:31 and see that king Ahab had chosen to neglect the worship of the true God, and has instead aligned himself with the worship of Baal. The item below is a small statue of Baal, displayed in the British Museum; although this statue is much older than the time of Elijah. It is not complete - whatever was in Baal's raised hand is now missing but the view is that it was either a club or a thunder bolt - because Baal was a storm-god.

And so when Elijah makes this claim that there will be no rain, it is a direct challenge to Ahab and his new god - who is a storm-god, and supposed to be able to bring rain. Therefore the drought that followed was a clear message - Baal is powerless in the face of the one true God.

God is all powerful. Ahab made the wrong choice of whom to worship with disastrous consequences as we shall see over the next few days. Where is our allegiance?

We can all do something

What's your promise? from Micah Challenge in the UK on Vimeo.

Start well...Finish well

Incomplete DIY projects, an exercise bike covered in dust, exercise equipment in the loft, a discarded gym membership card - all testimony to the fact that it's a lot easier to start something than it is to finish it. Anyone can start running a marathon, but to complete the course takes dedication, commitment, hard work, determination, training...

Paul, one of the major writers of the New Testament said in Acts 20:24 that his only aim was to finish the race and complete the job that Jesus had given him to do. He knew that even though he had done some amazing stuff in the past he could not bask in past glories - he had to keep on going - right to the end of the race.

Asa was King of Judah between 913-911 BC and we read about him in 1 Kings 15, and 2 Chronicles 14-16. He was a king who started really well, but it all went wrong at the end.


Whenever we're in a new situation we need to try and start well. We want to make a good impression. But who are we trying to impress? Asa knew that it was more important to impress God than to try and please people. Asa made God his number one priority. Whenever we start something new we need to take the decision that God is going to be our priority - and allow that fact to influence all of our decisions and choices.

So for those who will be starting university in the next couple of weeks here are three pieces of advice. Find a good church, join a Christian student group, and join another student group (sports club etc etc).

But Asa let things slip, and so the end of his reign is marked with war rather than peace. He took his eyes off God, and began to rely on himself. Maybe as we look at our Christian walk we see that things have slipped. We're not doing the things we once did. God is gracious and compassionate and therefore he wants us to start again - yes it will be hard and difficult, but the invitation is there. The invitation is there to finish well - because there is a prize in store for those who finish well.