WEBVTT 00:00:03.049 --> 00:00:05.910 Anybody know what the tallest, the highest place 00:00:05.910 --> 00:00:11.669 on earth is? Mount what? Mount Everest, that 00:00:11.669 --> 00:00:15.730 is correct. Mount Everest is the tallest place 00:00:15.730 --> 00:00:19.410 on earth. Well, I got to see if I have my sermon 00:00:19.410 --> 00:00:25.589 in here or not. All right, we'll go for it. The 00:00:25.589 --> 00:00:27.949 tallest place on earth is Mount Everest. Anybody 00:00:27.949 --> 00:00:34.460 know how high? 29, over 29 ,000, over 8 ,000 00:00:34.460 --> 00:00:41.179 meters. And if you get over 8 ,000 meters, mountains 00:00:41.179 --> 00:00:43.700 that tall, they have a certain name. It's kind 00:00:43.700 --> 00:00:46.179 of a scary name. Anybody know what that's called 00:00:46.179 --> 00:00:49.380 when you get above 8 ,000 meters? It's called 00:00:49.380 --> 00:00:53.159 the zone of death because it's so high up, there's 00:00:53.159 --> 00:00:56.579 not very much oxygen there. And so if you wanted 00:00:56.579 --> 00:00:59.420 to climb Mount Everest, you could do it. It would 00:00:59.420 --> 00:01:03.159 probably cost you maybe $50 ,000 to get the permits, 00:01:03.380 --> 00:01:06.319 to get the equipment, to get the guides and so 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:09.420 forth. But you could hire that, and with some 00:01:09.420 --> 00:01:13.689 training, you could make it up to the top. Got 00:01:13.689 --> 00:01:17.950 up there to 29 ,000 feet. I imagine it's an incredible 00:01:17.950 --> 00:01:22.989 view. It's an incredible, strenuous workout that 00:01:22.989 --> 00:01:25.390 it would take as you were on the highest place 00:01:25.390 --> 00:01:30.370 on the planet. But in that accomplishment, you 00:01:30.370 --> 00:01:35.969 would also be passing by the lowest place that 00:01:35.969 --> 00:01:39.890 some people have suffered. In that journey to 00:01:39.890 --> 00:01:42.450 the top of Mount Everest and back, you would 00:01:42.450 --> 00:01:47.989 pass by at least 200 bodies, 200 people, making 00:01:47.989 --> 00:01:53.129 that journey, making that expedition. And because 00:01:53.129 --> 00:01:55.329 of the danger zone, because of where they're 00:01:55.329 --> 00:01:58.790 at, oftentimes they just leave them there because 00:01:58.790 --> 00:02:01.250 logistically it's too dangerous, it's too hard, 00:02:01.329 --> 00:02:04.170 it's too challenging to bring them back down. 00:02:04.569 --> 00:02:08.430 And so there's bodies that you pass by. So as 00:02:08.430 --> 00:02:11.449 you're reaching that highest of highs, you're 00:02:11.449 --> 00:02:14.330 also seeing the results of people who were very, 00:02:14.389 --> 00:02:17.150 very motivated, who were very, very in shape, 00:02:17.229 --> 00:02:21.710 who were very, very fit, and yet they suffered 00:02:21.710 --> 00:02:24.129 the lowest of lows while trying to accomplish 00:02:24.129 --> 00:02:28.590 that highest of highs. With that in mind, we're 00:02:28.590 --> 00:02:32.039 going to jump back to our story of Elijah. This 00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:34.520 is our third sermon that we've been talking about 00:02:34.520 --> 00:02:38.080 the prophet Elijah and first kings. We're going 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:41.919 to have one more sermon about Elijah in two weeks 00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:44.000 as we're going to talk about the spirit and the 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:47.259 power of Elijah and what that means in our world 00:02:47.259 --> 00:02:49.800 today. But just a little bit of review in case 00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:53.539 you haven't been here. Last time, two weeks ago, 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:57.419 we talked about Elijah and he met... King Ahab 00:02:57.419 --> 00:02:59.979 and all the prophets of Baal, and he met them 00:02:59.979 --> 00:03:02.960 upon Mount Carmel, not Mount Everest, but Mount 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:05.560 Carmel, and there was a conflict, there was a 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:09.139 duel, a confrontation, and as Elijah prayed, 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:12.840 God sent fire down from heaven, and all the people 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:16.240 said, the Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:20.879 And then that evening after Elijah prayed, something 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:23.099 happened that hadn't happened in three and a 00:03:23.099 --> 00:03:27.379 half years. It rained. The drought was finished 00:03:27.379 --> 00:03:31.020 as the rain poured, as the water came from the 00:03:31.020 --> 00:03:36.419 earth. That drought was ended. And so then Elijah, 00:03:36.680 --> 00:03:39.680 we didn't talk about this, but Elijah ran in 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:42.800 front of King Ahab's chariot. He guided him back 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:47.080 to the city. So he ran about 20 miles in front 00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:49.900 of this chariot to make sure that the king would 00:03:49.900 --> 00:03:52.020 be able to get back where he needed to go, even 00:03:52.020 --> 00:03:55.979 in the midst of this. So he had this incredible 00:03:55.979 --> 00:03:59.460 spiritual high, the highest you could possibly 00:03:59.460 --> 00:04:03.840 be. And he may have thought that from that point 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:07.639 on, that everybody would respond, that everywhere 00:04:07.639 --> 00:04:09.879 he went, they would say, oh, that's the prophet 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:13.180 of God, that's the one that prayed, and fire 00:04:13.180 --> 00:04:16.259 came down from heaven, and yet he experienced 00:04:16.259 --> 00:04:20.110 something very different. He may have been anticipating 00:04:20.110 --> 00:04:22.509 that when he walked into the city, it would be 00:04:22.509 --> 00:04:25.069 like the Philadelphia Eagles, you know, in downtown 00:04:25.069 --> 00:04:27.949 Philadelphia a few weeks ago, and they had, what 00:04:27.949 --> 00:04:31.050 did they have? A parade, a Super Bowl parade, 00:04:31.170 --> 00:04:34.129 a ticker tape parade that everybody would cheer 00:04:34.129 --> 00:04:38.709 and celebrate, but that's not what he got. Almost 00:04:38.709 --> 00:04:43.350 immediately that very evening, King Ahab told 00:04:43.350 --> 00:04:47.230 his wife Jezebel what had happened to her prophets 00:04:47.230 --> 00:04:51.470 of Baal. and she was not happy. She was upset, 00:04:51.529 --> 00:04:56.009 and she sent a threat to Elijah. Notice 1 Kings 00:04:56.009 --> 00:05:00.350 19. 1 Kings 19 and verse 2 is where we're going 00:05:00.350 --> 00:05:03.850 to pick up the story. 1 Kings 19 and verse 2. 00:05:04.550 --> 00:05:11.110 We see what Jezebel said to the prophet Elijah. 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:15.939 1 Kings 19, it says, when she heard it, then 00:05:15.939 --> 00:05:19.819 Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, so 00:05:19.819 --> 00:05:22.920 let the gods do to me, just like you killed the 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:26.319 prophets of Baal, and more also, if I do not 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:29.439 make your life as one of them by tomorrow about 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:32.439 this time. In other words, Elijah, just like 00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:34.899 the prophets of Baal are dead, you're going to 00:05:34.899 --> 00:05:37.319 be dead. That was the threat. You are going to 00:05:37.319 --> 00:05:40.699 die. You are going to be killed. You are going 00:05:40.699 --> 00:05:44.160 to be wiped out. And so immediately from this 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:48.000 spiritual high of God sending fire down from 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:51.379 heaven, immediately he finds something else. 00:05:51.399 --> 00:05:55.220 He finds this threat. He finds this pressure. 00:05:55.459 --> 00:05:59.100 He's threatened with death. And what does he 00:05:59.100 --> 00:06:02.160 do? We're going to read it in just a few verses, 00:06:02.220 --> 00:06:08.360 but Elijah, he runs away. He flees. Now think 00:06:08.360 --> 00:06:12.579 what Elijah had seen. Every time God had called 00:06:12.579 --> 00:06:16.660 Elijah, he had responded. When God told him to 00:06:16.660 --> 00:06:19.259 go before the king, he went before King Ahab 00:06:19.259 --> 00:06:21.360 and he said, it's not going to rain for three 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:24.420 and a half years. When God sent him to the brook, 00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:27.220 he went to the brook and he was fed by the ravens. 00:06:27.259 --> 00:06:30.240 And then he was blessed by the widow. He even 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:33.139 was involved in a resurrection. He had raised 00:06:33.139 --> 00:06:37.759 that widow's child from the dead. He was seeing 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:40.600 the miracles of God. He'd seen the fire fall 00:06:40.600 --> 00:06:44.259 down from heaven, but one threat, and that was 00:06:44.259 --> 00:06:48.139 all it took. One threat, and he went in the other 00:06:48.139 --> 00:06:52.100 direction. And we could say, Elijah, hadn't you 00:06:52.100 --> 00:06:54.759 seen all these things? Elijah, how could you 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:59.639 run away? Why not ask God for something in this 00:06:59.639 --> 00:07:03.910 moment and in this time. We've talked about how 00:07:03.910 --> 00:07:08.089 Elijah, the Bible says clearly, is a man just 00:07:08.089 --> 00:07:11.629 like us. And just like us, there are spiritual 00:07:11.629 --> 00:07:14.810 highs and there are spiritual lows. And just 00:07:14.810 --> 00:07:17.029 like us, there's times when we're closer to God 00:07:17.029 --> 00:07:19.370 and there's times perhaps when we're further 00:07:19.370 --> 00:07:22.670 from God. We all have spiritual highs and lows. 00:07:22.810 --> 00:07:25.889 So I've got a challenge, a project for you. You 00:07:25.889 --> 00:07:28.720 could do it. today. You could do it right now 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:32.319 if you wanted, but maybe a time of worship. You 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:34.220 could just kind of think back over your life. 00:07:34.819 --> 00:07:38.279 Maybe think back over your past year. So if you 00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:41.040 were to just make a little chart on the one side, 00:07:41.259 --> 00:07:44.720 you could have today. That's today. And then 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:46.379 on the other side of the graph, you could go 00:07:46.379 --> 00:07:49.680 back through your life or maybe just back one 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:54.290 year, February of 2024. And then think about 00:07:54.290 --> 00:07:56.990 your life. Has there been moments over the last 00:07:56.990 --> 00:08:01.209 year when you have felt closer to God? Have there 00:08:01.209 --> 00:08:04.110 been moments of the last year when you have felt 00:08:04.110 --> 00:08:08.230 further away from God? Maybe your chart would 00:08:08.230 --> 00:08:10.009 look something like this, something like your 00:08:10.009 --> 00:08:13.470 EKG if you go to the doctor's office, your heart 00:08:13.470 --> 00:08:17.430 rhythm right there, because that's how our life 00:08:17.430 --> 00:08:21.939 is. That's how we live, that sometimes Some moments, 00:08:21.980 --> 00:08:25.980 some incidents, we just see God showing up in 00:08:25.980 --> 00:08:29.240 our life, and we see him at work, and we see 00:08:29.240 --> 00:08:32.059 his activity, and we can bring glory and praise 00:08:32.059 --> 00:08:36.399 to him. But then there's other moments when something 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:40.279 happens. Maybe it's something at your job, or 00:08:40.279 --> 00:08:43.009 maybe you've lost that job. Or maybe it's something 00:08:43.009 --> 00:08:45.669 from your doctor's office, some report that you 00:08:45.669 --> 00:08:49.009 got, or some conflict that you're having in some 00:08:49.009 --> 00:08:52.429 sort of relationship, a spouse, a parent, a child. 00:08:52.669 --> 00:08:56.110 And for whatever reason, sometimes we feel close 00:08:56.110 --> 00:09:00.070 to God, and sometimes we feel further away from 00:09:00.070 --> 00:09:04.090 God. But the good news is that our salvation 00:09:04.090 --> 00:09:09.070 is not based on this chart of your life. That's 00:09:09.070 --> 00:09:12.450 not what our salvation is based on. In fact, 00:09:12.450 --> 00:09:16.149 in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, it says, it is by grace 00:09:16.149 --> 00:09:20.370 you have been saved through faith, not by works, 00:09:20.450 --> 00:09:24.110 not by charts, not by spiritual highs or lows. 00:09:24.470 --> 00:09:27.570 It is by grace you have been saved through faith, 00:09:27.730 --> 00:09:32.730 not of works, lest anyone should boast. Our salvation 00:09:32.730 --> 00:09:36.370 is not based on whether today We're having a 00:09:36.370 --> 00:09:40.129 spiritual high or a spiritual low. Our salvation 00:09:40.129 --> 00:09:43.610 is based on what Jesus has done for us. And the 00:09:43.610 --> 00:09:46.470 fact of the matter is that no matter where we 00:09:46.470 --> 00:09:49.549 are, the closer we get to God, that just means 00:09:49.549 --> 00:09:52.549 the devil's going to, he doesn't like that. He's 00:09:52.549 --> 00:09:55.049 going to work all the harder. Somebody in Sabbath 00:09:55.049 --> 00:09:56.950 school said he's going to throw snowballs at 00:09:56.950 --> 00:10:00.570 you when you feel close to God. But that's not 00:10:00.570 --> 00:10:03.230 what gives us salvation, but it is the grace 00:10:03.230 --> 00:10:07.200 of God. that gives us salvation in our life. 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:11.360 And so we recognize that Elijah had highs and 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:14.840 he had lows. He had seen miracles, but think 00:10:14.840 --> 00:10:19.419 to different Bible stories. The Israelites, they 00:10:19.419 --> 00:10:22.000 had seen God work so many miracles in Egypt. 00:10:22.299 --> 00:10:26.580 They had come through the Red Sea that was parted. 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:29.779 They had seen God showing up to them in so many 00:10:29.779 --> 00:10:33.139 ways, but so often the first challenge that they 00:10:33.139 --> 00:10:36.710 had, oh, could we please go back to Egypt? They 00:10:36.710 --> 00:10:39.029 had, you know, cucumbers that we could eat or 00:10:39.029 --> 00:10:42.629 whatever it was. They'd seen miracles, but they 00:10:42.629 --> 00:10:45.789 were ready to turn around so quick. Or think 00:10:45.789 --> 00:10:50.250 of Peter. He's walking on the water as his eyes 00:10:50.250 --> 00:10:54.269 are fixed upon Jesus. But then as his heart gets 00:10:54.269 --> 00:10:56.909 full of his own pride and he turns back, hey 00:10:56.909 --> 00:10:58.950 guys, look what I'm doing. He takes his eyes 00:10:58.950 --> 00:11:05.090 off of Jesus and immediately, He sinks. He's 00:11:05.090 --> 00:11:07.509 seen miracles. He's doing something powerful, 00:11:07.710 --> 00:11:11.409 and yet he turns and walks the other direction. 00:11:11.870 --> 00:11:14.769 Here's a thought from a book called Prophets 00:11:14.769 --> 00:11:18.269 and Kings about this story. It says, Elijah should 00:11:18.269 --> 00:11:22.250 not have fled from his post of duty. He should 00:11:22.250 --> 00:11:24.710 have met the threat of Jezebel with an appeal 00:11:24.710 --> 00:11:28.009 for the protection of one who had commissioned 00:11:28.009 --> 00:11:31.620 him to vindicate the honor of Jehovah. the Lord 00:11:31.620 --> 00:11:36.379 would have given him another signal victory by 00:11:36.379 --> 00:11:39.519 sending his judgments on Jezebel, and the impression 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:42.679 on the king and the people would have wrought 00:11:42.679 --> 00:11:47.519 a great reformation. Elijah worked powerfully 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:52.100 for God, but it could have been even more powerful 00:11:52.100 --> 00:11:55.480 had he chosen to stand there and say, God, help 00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:59.679 me. God, deliver me. But as soon as he was attacked, 00:12:00.269 --> 00:12:03.230 In this moment, instead of calling on God as 00:12:03.230 --> 00:12:08.529 he had done before, this time he ran. He started 00:12:08.529 --> 00:12:14.629 running. He ran from Jezreel through Samaria, 00:12:14.629 --> 00:12:17.450 that northern kingdom that we talked about, and 00:12:17.450 --> 00:12:19.629 he ran all the way to Beersheba. That's like 00:12:19.629 --> 00:12:23.889 100 miles. That's like four marathons that he 00:12:23.889 --> 00:12:26.990 ran because he wanted to get out of there. When 00:12:26.990 --> 00:12:30.399 he saw that threat, it says in verse 3, He arose 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:33.659 and ran for his life, and he went to Beersheba, 00:12:33.779 --> 00:12:38.019 which belongs to Judah. But even then, he didn't 00:12:38.019 --> 00:12:41.659 stop. He went to Beersheba. Maybe his servant 00:12:41.659 --> 00:12:43.539 couldn't keep up. I don't know, but he left his 00:12:43.539 --> 00:12:47.419 servant there, and it says he went another day's 00:12:47.419 --> 00:12:50.879 journey by himself into the wilderness. He was 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:54.279 getting as far away as he could. He went another 00:12:54.279 --> 00:12:57.679 day's journey, and he sat down under a broom 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:01.620 tree, a shade tree. And he prayed. He finally 00:13:01.620 --> 00:13:04.820 prayed. He prayed to God in this moment under 00:13:04.820 --> 00:13:08.080 the shade tree after running 100 miles plus a 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:12.779 day. But notice what his prayer is. It's enough. 00:13:13.860 --> 00:13:20.600 Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than 00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:24.379 my father's. When he finally turns to God, when 00:13:24.379 --> 00:13:28.700 he finally prays his prayer, is that God is going 00:13:28.700 --> 00:13:32.820 to take his life. He's hopeless. He's depressed. 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:37.240 He seemingly can't see through the fog of this 00:13:37.240 --> 00:13:41.200 threat. He's forgetful about how God has worked 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:44.639 with him, about how God has blessed him. He forgot 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:48.559 all of that, and he's focused on this one threat. 00:13:49.019 --> 00:13:52.860 So he'd had this incredible spiritual high, and 00:13:52.860 --> 00:13:56.019 now he's having this incredible spiritual low. 00:13:56.669 --> 00:14:02.190 And I imagine he's worn out. He's tired. Anybody 00:14:02.190 --> 00:14:07.710 ever get worn out or tired? Anybody ever forget 00:14:07.710 --> 00:14:11.610 what God has done for you in the past? And we 00:14:11.610 --> 00:14:14.649 get thinking about ourself and thinking about 00:14:14.649 --> 00:14:18.250 our own challenges? There's a word that we sometimes 00:14:18.250 --> 00:14:22.250 use called burnout. Anybody ever heard of that? 00:14:22.970 --> 00:14:27.580 Anybody ever experienced that? What does that 00:14:27.580 --> 00:14:31.179 mean? Well, if you look up the definition, the 00:14:31.179 --> 00:14:33.740 first definition may not be quite what we're 00:14:33.740 --> 00:14:36.399 looking for today. The cessation of operation 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:41.080 usually of a jet or rocket engine. A rocket streaming 00:14:41.080 --> 00:14:44.059 through the sky and the engine shuts off, it 00:14:44.059 --> 00:14:48.980 burns out. But maybe that is a good example. 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:52.379 But it's the second definition that says the 00:14:52.379 --> 00:14:55.840 exhaustion of physical or emotional strength 00:14:55.840 --> 00:15:00.220 or motivation, usually as a result of prolonged 00:15:00.220 --> 00:15:04.879 stress or frustration. Maybe that is something 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:08.279 that we have experienced. Maybe that is something 00:15:08.279 --> 00:15:11.820 we've seen in our own life or seen. in the life 00:15:11.820 --> 00:15:15.200 of somebody else. Maybe we've experienced that 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:18.279 prolonged stress. Maybe we've experienced that 00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:21.159 frustration and maybe like that rocket streaking 00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:25.000 through the sky that shuts off. Maybe that's 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:28.039 what happens to us sometimes. And maybe that's 00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:32.220 what happened to Elijah. He got burned out as 00:15:32.220 --> 00:15:36.019 we so often do. I think to our scripture that 00:15:36.019 --> 00:15:40.480 Riley did an amazing job reading for us. Isaiah 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:44.620 chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40. We usually look 00:15:44.620 --> 00:15:47.960 at the last couple verses of this, but starting 00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:51.539 in verse 28, it says, Have you not known? Have 00:15:51.539 --> 00:15:55.220 you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, 00:15:55.480 --> 00:15:58.899 the creator of the ends of the earth, neither 00:15:58.899 --> 00:16:04.440 faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:10.279 We get tired. We get weary. We get sick. but 00:16:10.279 --> 00:16:13.779 God doesn't. And then it says he gives power 00:16:13.779 --> 00:16:19.559 to the weak. To those who have no might, he increases 00:16:19.559 --> 00:16:23.139 strength. The next couple of verses say, even 00:16:23.139 --> 00:16:26.279 the youth and the young men shall faint and be 00:16:26.279 --> 00:16:29.759 weary, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:32.639 their strength. They shall mount up with wings 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:37.019 like eagles. They shall walk and not faint. That's 00:16:37.019 --> 00:16:39.139 what God wants to do for us. He's not going to 00:16:39.580 --> 00:16:42.240 faint and grow weary, but he's going to give 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:46.200 us strength as we have times of need. There's 00:16:46.200 --> 00:16:48.600 another really cool verse in Romans chapter 12. 00:16:49.220 --> 00:16:51.600 Romans chapter 12, and this is from the message 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:54.059 version, just because I like the way it reads, 00:16:54.139 --> 00:16:58.360 the message paraphrase. It says, don't burn out. 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:04.859 Keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants 00:17:04.859 --> 00:17:09.039 of the master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:12.720 in hard times, but pray all the harder. Help 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:16.119 needy Christians be inventive in hospitality. 00:17:16.460 --> 00:17:20.119 I like that. How can we be inventive in our hospitality? 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:25.000 What can we do to keep ourselves fueled and aflame 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:28.779 and not burn out? Well, we need to be alert servants 00:17:28.779 --> 00:17:33.720 of the master. Elijah in this moment was not 00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:37.380 feeling that. Elijah wanted... to die. Elijah 00:17:37.380 --> 00:17:41.619 was not ready for this moment. He wanted to die. 00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:44.420 But notice what happens back in 1 Kings chapter 00:17:44.420 --> 00:17:48.740 19 and verse 5. He prayed, Lord, take my life. 00:17:49.779 --> 00:17:52.559 But thankfully, God didn't answer that prayer. 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:56.579 But it says, then as he lay and slept under a 00:17:56.579 --> 00:18:00.039 broom tree, he wanted to die, but he went to 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:03.000 sleep instead. I think that was a better option. 00:18:04.009 --> 00:18:07.309 And as he slept, I want you to notice what God 00:18:07.309 --> 00:18:14.490 did not do. God did not condemn him. God did 00:18:14.490 --> 00:18:17.130 not come down with a mighty hand of judgment. 00:18:17.950 --> 00:18:22.170 God did not punish him. God did not smite him 00:18:22.170 --> 00:18:25.809 down. And thankfully, God did not answer that 00:18:25.809 --> 00:18:28.609 prayer. That's what God did not do. But look 00:18:28.609 --> 00:18:33.079 what God did. An angel came to him. And touched 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:35.339 him, maybe shook him on the shoulder just a little 00:18:35.339 --> 00:18:38.539 bit as he's snoozing. And he said to him, arise, 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:42.980 get up. We've got some food here. And then he 00:18:42.980 --> 00:18:45.740 looked and there by his head was a cake baked 00:18:45.740 --> 00:18:50.200 on coals and a jar of water. And so he ate and 00:18:50.200 --> 00:18:55.119 drank and he lay down again. He was tired. He 00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:59.640 was worn out. Could it be? That at least sometimes 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:04.559 when we find ourself running away from God, could 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:08.599 it be that the thing that we need the most is 00:19:08.599 --> 00:19:12.680 a nap? We need to get some more sleep. We need 00:19:12.680 --> 00:19:15.000 to go to bed a little bit earlier. We need to 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:18.279 sleep in a little bit because maybe we've worn 00:19:18.279 --> 00:19:21.400 ourself out. And that's, in a sense, that's what 00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:27.009 Sabbath is all about. It's a day to unplug. It's 00:19:27.009 --> 00:19:30.950 a day to rest. It's a day to connect with God. 00:19:31.089 --> 00:19:35.069 And not just sleep, but also some food here. 00:19:35.349 --> 00:19:38.470 And with food, we need to make sure that we're 00:19:38.470 --> 00:19:43.490 putting healthy food in. So he's got bread, some 00:19:43.490 --> 00:19:48.509 versions say. New King James says cake that was 00:19:48.509 --> 00:19:55.019 provided by an angel. Angel food. Cake? Maybe 00:19:55.019 --> 00:19:58.380 that's too easy. I don't know. But he had some 00:19:58.380 --> 00:20:02.720 food and he needed some rest. Could it be that 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:06.440 when we're depressed, when we're confused, we 00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:09.519 need to step back and we need to rest before 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:13.680 we jump to conclusions, before we make decisions 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:17.380 in the heat of a moment, before we say words 00:20:17.380 --> 00:20:21.299 to a family member or an employee or an employer? 00:20:22.200 --> 00:20:24.339 that we're going to regret at a later moment. 00:20:24.440 --> 00:20:27.619 Maybe we need to step back from the situation 00:20:27.619 --> 00:20:32.680 and have a little rest to prevent a breakdown 00:20:32.680 --> 00:20:38.299 or a burnout. So he ate and drank. And it says 00:20:38.299 --> 00:20:40.380 he lay down again. He needed some more rest. 00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:43.859 He needed some more sleep. Notice verse 7. It 00:20:43.859 --> 00:20:46.400 says the angel of the Lord came back the second 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:49.240 time and touched him, woke him up, and said, 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:54.170 Arise and eat. because the journey is too great. 00:20:54.529 --> 00:20:57.289 He had a journey that he was going to continue 00:20:57.289 --> 00:21:01.130 on, and it was too great for him to go in his 00:21:01.130 --> 00:21:05.089 own strength. And so in verse 8, it says, the 00:21:05.089 --> 00:21:08.890 angel of the, so he arose. Sorry, I didn't hit 00:21:08.890 --> 00:21:11.630 the button. So he arose and ate and drank, and 00:21:11.630 --> 00:21:14.849 he went in the strength of that food, that food, 00:21:14.950 --> 00:21:18.710 a couple meals, a couple heavenly meals, 40 days 00:21:18.710 --> 00:21:23.250 and 40 nights. as far as Horeb, the mountain 00:21:23.250 --> 00:21:29.069 of God. So he had gone from Jezreel to Beersheba, 00:21:29.190 --> 00:21:33.789 but now he goes on down even further, down to 00:21:33.789 --> 00:21:38.049 Mount Horeb, which there's a debate here, but 00:21:38.049 --> 00:21:41.690 many people feel that this is likely the same 00:21:41.690 --> 00:21:45.559 mountain as Mount Sinai. It may be, it may not 00:21:45.559 --> 00:21:48.880 be. People aren't entirely sure, but that's over 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:53.700 250 miles through mountainous area, through a 00:21:53.700 --> 00:21:57.759 wilderness area. And he went on this food for 00:21:57.759 --> 00:22:00.640 40 days and 40 night to the mountain of God, 00:22:00.819 --> 00:22:05.400 to the mountain where Moses had seen the burning 00:22:05.400 --> 00:22:08.180 bush. And God had said, take off your shoes. 00:22:08.220 --> 00:22:11.059 This is holy ground. To the mountain where Moses 00:22:11.059 --> 00:22:16.750 had hit the rock. and water had flown out to 00:22:16.750 --> 00:22:20.029 the mountain, perhaps, where God had met Moses 00:22:20.029 --> 00:22:23.470 and given him the Ten Commandments. But he went 00:22:23.470 --> 00:22:26.529 there to this mountain of Moses, to this mountain 00:22:26.529 --> 00:22:31.690 of God, and God meets Elijah there. And he asked 00:22:31.690 --> 00:22:34.049 him a question. It's not, why do you have the 00:22:34.049 --> 00:22:37.829 giggles? He asked him the question in verse 9. 00:22:37.890 --> 00:22:41.829 He says, what are you doing here, Elijah? Why 00:22:41.829 --> 00:22:46.519 are you here? What are you doing here? And Elijah 00:22:46.519 --> 00:22:50.980 seems to really just give an excuse. If you look 00:22:50.980 --> 00:22:54.220 at Elijah's response in verse 10, I've been very 00:22:54.220 --> 00:22:57.099 zealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children 00:22:57.099 --> 00:23:00.019 of Israel. They have forsaken your covenant and 00:23:00.019 --> 00:23:02.579 torn down your altars and killed your prophets 00:23:02.579 --> 00:23:06.119 with the sword, and I alone am left. And now 00:23:06.119 --> 00:23:08.779 they seek my life. They wanted to kill me. I'm 00:23:08.779 --> 00:23:13.119 the last one. And that's why I have ran. A hundred 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:17.700 miles plus a day plus 250 miles. That's why I'm 00:23:17.700 --> 00:23:21.579 here. That's why I am in this place. And then 00:23:21.579 --> 00:23:25.940 God asks Elijah to do something. God meets him 00:23:25.940 --> 00:23:29.180 there and he tells him to stand on the mountain. 00:23:29.660 --> 00:23:32.160 Stand on the mountain before the Lord. This is 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:36.220 very similar to what God said to Elijah, excuse 00:23:36.220 --> 00:23:39.640 me, to Moses when God was going to show Moses 00:23:39.640 --> 00:23:43.579 his... at least a part of it. He shows him his 00:23:43.579 --> 00:23:47.319 back, it says. But notice what happens here in 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:50.059 verse 11. Go out and stand on the mountain before 00:23:50.059 --> 00:23:54.599 the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and 00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:57.980 a great and strong wind tore into the mountains 00:23:57.980 --> 00:24:01.140 and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord. 00:24:02.059 --> 00:24:05.180 Anybody was here when, I don't know, a tornado 00:24:05.180 --> 00:24:09.240 blew through this area not too many years ago? 00:24:09.789 --> 00:24:12.150 Or maybe you've been in Florida when a hurricane, 00:24:12.369 --> 00:24:14.930 or even in Georgia or North Carolina when a hurricane 00:24:14.930 --> 00:24:19.509 has come through. You can see the damage, the 00:24:19.509 --> 00:24:24.170 impact that wind can have. And that's what happens 00:24:24.170 --> 00:24:28.849 here. But it says the Lord was not in the wind. 00:24:29.410 --> 00:24:33.660 And after the wind... An earthquake. The earth 00:24:33.660 --> 00:24:35.980 shook. Anybody lived in California or someplace 00:24:35.980 --> 00:24:38.779 where sometimes those buildings begin to rock 00:24:38.779 --> 00:24:43.019 back and forth? But the Lord was not in the earthquake. 00:24:43.140 --> 00:24:46.920 And after the earthquake, a fire. Anybody turned 00:24:46.920 --> 00:24:49.779 on the news and seen fires raging through the 00:24:49.779 --> 00:24:52.500 mountains of California or buildings or whatever? 00:24:52.940 --> 00:24:58.240 But the Lord was not in the fire. And then it 00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:05.799 says, after the fire, a still, small voice. Verse 00:25:05.799 --> 00:25:10.299 13 says, so it was when Elijah heard it. He heard 00:25:10.299 --> 00:25:14.519 the voice. He heard the voice of God. The voice 00:25:14.519 --> 00:25:18.259 of God was not in those miraculous events of 00:25:18.259 --> 00:25:24.140 earthquake, wind, fire. Sometimes God does show 00:25:24.140 --> 00:25:27.079 up in the miraculous event. In the chapter right 00:25:27.079 --> 00:25:30.220 before this, fire fell down from heaven. But 00:25:30.220 --> 00:25:33.819 more often, we're not going to see God in some 00:25:33.819 --> 00:25:36.480 sort of miraculous way. We're not going to see 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:39.440 God in the loud. We're not going to see God in 00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:41.980 the extreme, but we're going to see God in the 00:25:41.980 --> 00:25:44.859 quiet. We're going to see God in the solitude. 00:25:45.740 --> 00:25:51.019 Think again to Moses. He'd spent 40 years in 00:25:51.019 --> 00:25:55.440 the wilderness, tending sheep by himself, and 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:58.839 that's where God showed up to him. Think to Daniel 00:25:58.839 --> 00:26:02.440 before he was in the lion's den. He was spending 00:26:02.440 --> 00:26:06.680 time with God each and every day. Think even 00:26:06.680 --> 00:26:08.880 to the life of Jesus while he walked on this 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:11.079 earth. It says that he would get up before dawn. 00:26:11.180 --> 00:26:13.460 He would get up early in the morning to spend 00:26:13.460 --> 00:26:17.500 time with his heavenly Father. I think that in 00:26:17.500 --> 00:26:21.900 our world today, there's not a lot of quiet. 00:26:23.619 --> 00:26:29.039 There's not a lot of solitude. I saw something 00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:32.059 recently that said it used to be like back in 00:26:32.059 --> 00:26:35.359 around 1968, if you wanted to go out into nature 00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:39.599 and record nature sounds without any, you know, 00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:42.799 motors or engines or anything like that, it would 00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:45.680 take you about 15 hours of recording time to 00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:49.700 get one hour of just straight nature sounds. 00:26:50.660 --> 00:26:56.480 But now it takes about 2 ,000 hours of recording 00:26:56.480 --> 00:27:01.339 time. to get one hour of just nature. Because 00:27:01.339 --> 00:27:04.640 almost anywhere you go, even in the mountains 00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:08.119 of Appalachia or wherever, you're hardly ever 00:27:08.119 --> 00:27:11.240 more than one mile from a road. And if you look 00:27:11.240 --> 00:27:13.339 up, you're probably going to see a plane flying 00:27:13.339 --> 00:27:17.599 overhead. It's hard to get silence in our world 00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:21.059 today. Sometimes I drive through the campus up 00:27:21.059 --> 00:27:24.650 at Southern. And I always see the students, and 00:27:24.650 --> 00:27:27.130 there's a couple things they have in common. 00:27:27.150 --> 00:27:29.329 One, they always have their book bags on, and 00:27:29.329 --> 00:27:32.150 they look huge and giant. But the other thing 00:27:32.150 --> 00:27:35.089 that almost all of them have are headphones. 00:27:36.170 --> 00:27:38.470 Even when they're walking to class, they're walking 00:27:38.470 --> 00:27:41.369 with their friends, but they're listening to 00:27:41.369 --> 00:27:45.349 something else. And I can't point fingers because 00:27:45.349 --> 00:27:49.769 I do the same thing when I'm in the car. I've 00:27:49.769 --> 00:27:52.349 got some music playing or an audio book playing. 00:27:52.700 --> 00:27:55.779 podcast playing or even an audio Bible. Something 00:27:55.779 --> 00:27:59.259 is playing. There's almost always some sort of 00:27:59.259 --> 00:28:03.559 noise, some sort of thing that is filling my 00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:08.000 head and filling my mind. Even when we go to 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:12.160 bed, we live on a road and you can hear traffic 00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:15.299 or sometimes a siren or a train. And so whenever 00:28:15.299 --> 00:28:18.079 I come into the room, I turn on a little box 00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:24.349 fan. Just so there's some constant, some white 00:28:24.349 --> 00:28:29.589 noise, something, that soft, steady noise that's 00:28:29.589 --> 00:28:32.589 going to hopefully drown out those bigger noises. 00:28:33.250 --> 00:28:36.650 Could it be that we're filling our life with 00:28:36.650 --> 00:28:40.309 so many other little noises? Could it be that 00:28:40.309 --> 00:28:43.029 sometimes we're blocking out that most important 00:28:43.029 --> 00:28:47.430 noise, that voice of God, which comes most often 00:28:47.430 --> 00:28:53.519 as a still, small. voice. What does God say to 00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:58.200 us? Like in Psalm 46, 10, God says, be still 00:28:58.200 --> 00:29:04.539 and know that I am God. Do we take time to be 00:29:04.539 --> 00:29:07.700 still? Or what did Jesus say in the New Testament 00:29:07.700 --> 00:29:12.640 in Matthew 11, 28? Come to me, all you who are 00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:16.680 weary and heavy laden, all you who are busy. 00:29:17.319 --> 00:29:19.880 All you who are trying to drown me out in other 00:29:19.880 --> 00:29:23.920 ways, come to me and I am going to give you the 00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:26.839 rest that you need. Perhaps it's the physical 00:29:26.839 --> 00:29:31.940 rest, but perhaps it's the spiritual rest. A 00:29:31.940 --> 00:29:36.019 question for you, does your life, does your schedule 00:29:36.019 --> 00:29:41.859 look like God's voice is the most important thing 00:29:41.859 --> 00:29:45.440 for you? Or if other people would be looking 00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:49.289 at it, would they say, I don't know, maybe Greg's 00:29:49.289 --> 00:29:51.990 trying to drown that out with Netflix or whatever 00:29:51.990 --> 00:29:56.670 it is. Is God's voice the most important thing 00:29:56.670 --> 00:30:01.789 for you? It's interesting that God asked Elijah 00:30:01.789 --> 00:30:05.190 the exact same question that he asked before. 00:30:05.309 --> 00:30:08.950 He said, Elijah, what are you doing here? The 00:30:08.950 --> 00:30:13.589 exact same question. And Elijah gives the exact 00:30:13.589 --> 00:30:17.849 same answer. They've torn down your altars. They've 00:30:17.849 --> 00:30:20.289 killed the prophets. And now they're after me. 00:30:20.329 --> 00:30:24.190 I'm the only one left. Even after hearing God's 00:30:24.190 --> 00:30:29.049 voice, Elijah gives the same response. And maybe 00:30:29.049 --> 00:30:33.509 God asked that question to us. What are you doing 00:30:33.509 --> 00:30:38.009 here? And that here could be wherever. If you're 00:30:38.009 --> 00:30:42.250 at work, what are you doing here to tune in? 00:30:42.650 --> 00:30:44.670 to God's voice. When you're at home with your 00:30:44.670 --> 00:30:49.150 family, what are you doing here to tune in to 00:30:49.150 --> 00:30:52.890 God's voice? Or maybe even at church, what are 00:30:52.890 --> 00:30:55.670 you doing here to make sure that you're connected 00:30:55.670 --> 00:30:59.529 with God, to tune in to God? And we can see how 00:30:59.529 --> 00:31:03.650 God responded. He didn't take that as an answer. 00:31:04.170 --> 00:31:07.150 He said, nope, that's not how it's going to be. 00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:10.980 And the Lord said to him, he gave him some more 00:31:10.980 --> 00:31:13.700 assignments. He gave him some more direction. 00:31:13.920 --> 00:31:17.720 In verse 15, the Lord God said to him, go, you're 00:31:17.720 --> 00:31:19.480 supposed to leave this mountain. You came here, 00:31:19.619 --> 00:31:22.119 but I still got somewhere, something for you 00:31:22.119 --> 00:31:24.380 to do. You're supposed to go and you're supposed 00:31:24.380 --> 00:31:27.119 to anoint kings and you're supposed to anoint 00:31:27.119 --> 00:31:29.799 prophets. So he's supposed to go somewhere and 00:31:29.799 --> 00:31:31.579 he's supposed to do something. He's supposed 00:31:31.579 --> 00:31:34.200 to go and he's supposed to anoint people. And 00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:37.890 then God says, you're not alone. I have reserved. 00:31:37.970 --> 00:31:42.069 There's at least 7 ,000 people who have not bowed 00:31:42.069 --> 00:31:45.230 to Baal. There's at least 7 ,000 people who are 00:31:45.230 --> 00:31:48.769 still serving me. And so he gave him instruction 00:31:48.769 --> 00:31:52.990 and he gave him assurance. And perhaps that's 00:31:52.990 --> 00:31:55.990 what we need sometime. We need to be reminded 00:31:55.990 --> 00:31:59.990 to go and that we've got something to do. And 00:31:59.990 --> 00:32:02.609 we need to be reminded that we're not alone and 00:32:02.609 --> 00:32:05.970 that we have a mission. So when you're feeling 00:32:07.350 --> 00:32:09.990 depressed, when you're feeling on the edge of 00:32:09.990 --> 00:32:12.750 burnout, or maybe when you're feeling in the 00:32:12.750 --> 00:32:16.470 midst of burnout, you can remember, as we see 00:32:16.470 --> 00:32:20.490 here, that God is there. God is still present 00:32:20.490 --> 00:32:24.430 in your life, even if you may or may not recognize 00:32:24.430 --> 00:32:28.410 it. God is still there. And not only that, but 00:32:28.410 --> 00:32:32.400 others are here. That's as we sit in this place 00:32:32.400 --> 00:32:34.900 like this, you can look around and you can see 00:32:34.900 --> 00:32:37.599 people that care about you and people that will 00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:40.480 pray for you and people that will uplift you 00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:43.200 just as they hope that you will do for them. 00:32:43.579 --> 00:32:45.779 That's what a church is. That's what a church 00:32:45.779 --> 00:32:48.940 family is. We can remember that God is there 00:32:48.940 --> 00:32:53.440 and we can remember that others are here taking 00:32:53.440 --> 00:32:57.079 care of each other. And then finally, we can 00:32:57.079 --> 00:33:01.759 remember that we each have a mission. We each 00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:05.339 have something that God has invited us to do. 00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:09.740 We each have something that we can complete for 00:33:09.740 --> 00:33:14.220 God with God's help. If I may close with one 00:33:14.220 --> 00:33:18.039 story from history, from church history. The 00:33:18.039 --> 00:33:22.259 year was 1852, and this was before there was 00:33:22.259 --> 00:33:24.339 even a Seventh -day Adventist church had officially 00:33:24.339 --> 00:33:28.380 formed, but there were several ministers, preachers 00:33:28.380 --> 00:33:30.259 who were going different places trying to tell 00:33:30.259 --> 00:33:33.579 people about the Bible and the Sabbath and salvation 00:33:33.579 --> 00:33:36.640 and different things like that. And a couple 00:33:36.640 --> 00:33:39.480 of them left Michigan where they were and they 00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:42.880 decided we're going to go over to Iowa, the state 00:33:42.880 --> 00:33:45.079 of Iowa, because they had heard that there was 00:33:45.079 --> 00:33:47.740 people there that needed to hear about God and 00:33:47.740 --> 00:33:50.920 they could... They could farm, and they could 00:33:50.920 --> 00:33:53.160 tell people about God. And so a group of about 00:33:53.160 --> 00:33:57.140 30 made their way from Michigan to Iowa and started 00:33:57.140 --> 00:34:01.119 to work. But they were working, but they got 00:34:01.119 --> 00:34:03.779 busy with the working, and they forgot the part 00:34:03.779 --> 00:34:06.599 about telling people about Jesus because they 00:34:06.599 --> 00:34:10.159 were so busy with planting, with farming, with 00:34:10.159 --> 00:34:12.400 carpentry. Some of them were building and different 00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:14.679 things. And one of them was a gentleman named 00:34:14.679 --> 00:34:17.840 John Loughborough, J .N. Loughborough. And he 00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:20.159 was working as a carpenter, and he had been a 00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:23.480 minister. And finally, some of the leaders of 00:34:23.480 --> 00:34:25.480 the church back in Michigan said, you know what, 00:34:25.559 --> 00:34:28.739 we need these guys. These guys need to be doing 00:34:28.739 --> 00:34:32.880 something. And so James White and his wife Ellen, 00:34:33.000 --> 00:34:36.019 they got into their sleigh. It was cold. It was 00:34:36.019 --> 00:34:39.440 wintertime. They got into their sleigh, and the 00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:41.989 horse... pulled them across the snow from Michigan, 00:34:42.050 --> 00:34:45.670 and they came to a barrier, big body of water 00:34:45.670 --> 00:34:49.730 known as the Mississippi River, and it was iced 00:34:49.730 --> 00:34:53.110 over. But it wasn't iced as much as it could 00:34:53.110 --> 00:34:55.550 have been, but they said, you know what, God 00:34:55.550 --> 00:34:57.630 has sent us on this mission, and so they went 00:34:57.630 --> 00:35:00.449 across the Mississippi River, and they show up 00:35:00.449 --> 00:35:05.309 to the town in Iowa, and they... come to John 00:35:05.309 --> 00:35:08.309 Loughborough, and John Andrews was another that 00:35:08.309 --> 00:35:11.449 was in that group, and they ask a question. And 00:35:11.449 --> 00:35:13.829 it was a question that we've just heard God ask. 00:35:14.289 --> 00:35:19.650 They said, what doest thou hear, Elijah? What 00:35:19.650 --> 00:35:22.309 doest thou hear, Elijah? What are you doing here? 00:35:22.750 --> 00:35:25.389 You've got something else you're supposed to 00:35:25.389 --> 00:35:28.449 be doing. You've got somewhere else that God 00:35:28.449 --> 00:35:31.150 has wanted you to serve, that God has wanted 00:35:31.150 --> 00:35:36.449 you to work. With that invitation, with that 00:35:36.449 --> 00:35:41.070 confrontation, John Loughborough, it says that 00:35:41.070 --> 00:35:43.429 he laid down, this is what he said, I have laid 00:35:43.429 --> 00:35:47.090 down my hammer and I have driven my last nail. 00:35:47.750 --> 00:35:51.349 And he began to serve and began to minister. 00:35:51.630 --> 00:35:54.550 And when the call came, we need somebody to go 00:35:54.550 --> 00:35:57.849 to California, which was the wilderness back 00:35:57.849 --> 00:36:01.489 then, he and his wife were the first ones to 00:36:01.489 --> 00:36:04.659 volunteer. and went and took a gospel message 00:36:04.659 --> 00:36:07.420 and a message of the Sabbath to California. And 00:36:07.420 --> 00:36:09.280 one of the other ministers that were there, John 00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:12.980 Andrews, was the first to go overseas with a 00:36:12.980 --> 00:36:16.539 message of the Sabbath. And so we can ask ourselves 00:36:16.539 --> 00:36:20.019 the question, what are you doing here? And we 00:36:20.019 --> 00:36:23.239 can remember that God is with you, that God is 00:36:23.239 --> 00:36:26.460 here, that God is in your life. And you can remember 00:36:26.460 --> 00:36:29.760 that others are here, that we can pray for each 00:36:29.760 --> 00:36:32.860 other and encourage each other. And you can ask 00:36:32.860 --> 00:36:36.840 God, God, what is your mission for me? What would 00:36:36.840 --> 00:36:40.400 you have me to do? Let's bow our heads for prayer. 00:36:41.059 --> 00:36:47.159 Dear God, what an incredible story of Elijah 00:36:47.159 --> 00:36:50.679 that even though he had done so much that was 00:36:50.679 --> 00:36:55.719 so good, he had moments when, like us, he had 00:36:55.719 --> 00:36:58.400 a spiritual letdown. And yet you continued to 00:36:58.400 --> 00:37:02.610 call him, continued to love him. Continue to 00:37:02.610 --> 00:37:07.150 encourage him and use him. And Lord, forgive 00:37:07.150 --> 00:37:09.230 us for the times when we have spiritual highs 00:37:09.230 --> 00:37:12.409 and spiritual lows, but let us remember your 00:37:12.409 --> 00:37:16.250 grace and let us be used by you in all that we 00:37:16.250 --> 00:37:19.309 do. In your name we pray, amen.