pastorrudytlc

Back in 1966, the Four Tops hit number 6 on the Billboard Pop Charts with a soulful and passionate rendition of mourning love lost in a song entitled, “Standing In the Shadows of Love.” Levi Stubbs knew that a heart ache with his name on it was looming just around the corner and he also understood that there was not much he could do about it. So in legendary Motown fashion, he and his three mates cried the blues over his woman deciding to break off the relationship.

In the Book of 1 Kings however, the prophet Elijah is crooning a much different tune. He too is standing in the shadows, but instead of it being a place that finds him cruising full speed ahead upon the boulevard of broken dreams- Elijah is safe and sound under the wings of the almighty power of an awesome God. In that heavenly hiding place, the outcome will not end with another heart biting the dust but with the first recorded resurrection in the Holy Scriptures.

I challenge you today to examine your own life to see if you can discover any character traits that actually make you stand head and shoulders above the rest of the mass of humanity that settles to do just enough to get by. What if, rather than taking your resume to the crowds to get your affirmation, you were courageous enough to bring your list to the Lord. You might say to the Lord for example, “Dear God, today I want to make you my definitive standard when it comes to being excellent at my job.” Or what if you prayed: “Lord, please give me a calm and gentle spirit so that I set the temperature in my world and don’t just react to the chaotic heat all around me.”?

I have gotten to the point in my walk with God that I am no longer satisfied to simply call myself a Christian. I want to be known as a genuine servant of God because my life demonstrates the truth that I live what I say that I believe. And rather than always complaining about the gifts that I don’t have, I desire to be content with the gracious presents that my God’s presence has brought me. And when life goes out of control and it will- keep me anchored to the rock that never loses the handle but with only a word can make it all meaningful and lasting.

Either your God is able or he isn’t! Elijah found himself stuck in a world that had turned its attention to an idol named Baal that was as real as purple dinosaurs. A weakling king named Ahab who should have been leading his people towards Jehovah, got sidetracked by a wicked woman named Jezebel and it was all downhill from there. But Elijah believed in the one true God of impossibilities- and not even death could cause him to doubt! God orchestrated it so that Elijah’s pride would be supernaturally cut down to size at a camp called Cherith while unclean ravens fed him and a brook quenched his thirst. After that, rather than a season of sunshine- more testing came and our prophet was divinely shaken and stirred so that his impurities and dross were spiritually melted away in the crucible of a smelting town called Zarephath. Through this intense education, God was equipping our enduring Elijah for the next challenge that was waiting for him just around the corner. An unbelieving widow that God was using in Elijah’s life was about to lose her son and this time the local undertaker was going to be overtaken by faith in a God who can conquer death forever!

How about you? Are you standing in the shadow of God waiting for the heart beats to come? Or are you doing too much dilly and dallying while the precious time in your bottle is about to fall off the table and crack its contents all over the floor of futility?

This is why our daily drive should be dealing with doing nothing short of our due diligence duty. Don’t allow the circumstances to cause you to lose sight of your God given goal and don’t give permission to the fracas to rob you of your faith focus. Humans tend to be good starters but not always faithful finishers. Bring your efforts under the umbrella of God’s invincibility and in the sphere of his coverage make it more about quality and not just excess and sloppy quantity.

Elijah brought the window’s son with him to his upper room. Do you have your place to getaway so you have have some quiet time with God? And on his bed, Elijah prayed and brought life back into the body of a dead boy. In your secret place, will you place the remains of your broken and scarred past, the emptiness of your poor character traits, the habits that have so long controlled you, the limited vision that continues to contain you, the slight irritation that nags or the large one that looms and the anger or the violence or lust or greed or discontentment or selfishness or the ugliness of pride. Lay these things down before the Father and stretch yourself out under His shadow as you ask him to bring about remarkable, even miraculous changes in your life and your world. Lay down upon that which has died so that God may breathe his resurrection power into what needs to come back to life again. And don’t be afraid to ask God for the impossible, especially when it will highlight and bring attention to the Lord you serve.

Remember you are where you are by God’s appointment; you are always in his keeping and never beyond his consistent care. He is training, equipping and preparing you for his assignments carried out in his sweet time. And don’t forget that behind every shadow is the light of the Son of God. And if you choose to submit under the tutelage of his care, no story ends in the cemetery but in the hall of faith and dreams that really do still come true!
Join Pastor Rudy at The Lighthouse Church as he teaches a Study based on Elijah on Wednesday Nights- 6:30-8PM… Come early as a light supper is served before… http://www.tlccma.org