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Day 95, or April the 5th. Think positively when things go wrong.

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Our thoughts today are from 1 Kings chapter 17 verse 18. She said to Elijah, What do you

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have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?

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Now the big picture surrounding this verse. One of the greatest historical stories of

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the Old Testament is the triumph of Elijah over the prophets of Baal. The prophet Elijah

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confronts the recognized religion of the leaders of his day, and God gives him an amazing victory.

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Elijah taunts his opponents on Mount Carmel and uses lots of water in a time of drought

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to make his point that only the living God is worth serving. Ahab was king of Israel

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at the time, and his wife was the infamous Jezebel. Elijah often shows great courage

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and bravery, but at the same time he covers hundreds of miles running away in fear, particularly

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from Queen Jezebel. He is a real enigma, as we all are if you look around at the way we

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all act in diverse ways, which rarely shows real consistency in our daily lives. Elijah

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plays an unforgettable part in the life of a Gentile woman, whose son dies and who is

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raised from the dead by Elijah.

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Now today's action step. In the midst of his national ministry, Elijah is called to

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minister to an ordinary woman who isn't even Jewish. How often God does that in our lives,

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temporarily calling us from our primary duties to take care of something that appears to

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be a distraction. Maybe that's happening to you at the moment. You are in good company,

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if it is, because it happened to Jesus on a regular basis. The Gentile woman's initial

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response to her son dying is all too predictable even in many believers today. She assumes

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it to be a punishment from God for sins she has committed in her life. We are very good

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at blaming God for the mishaps of life, but equally reticent to give him the glory for

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the blessings of life. When things go wrong, it is never God's fault, but he can always

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bless you abundantly if you let him, even today.