Put It All in the Hands of Your God!

6th Sunday after Pentecost, 6/26/16
1 Kings 19:14-21


Put It All in the Hands of Your God!
I. He operates his world.
II. He provides for his Church.


“I’m sorry. That’s not up to you. That’s up to me. I’ll handle it.”

Have you ever had a conversation with someone that ended when you spoke those words? Most of us have. You’re dealing with a person—often in an employment situation—in which they assume they have the responsibility to be concerned about something, when in reality, it’s not their concern at all. In fact, it’s yours, and you don’t appreciate their meddlesome comments or behavior. Contrary to what the other person assumes, you’re fully aware of the situation. In fact, you’ve already taken steps to address the issues. You’re on top of it and you’re fully confident that things will turn out the way you have planned.

You’ve got things in hand.

It’s annoying when that situation occurs. Most of us are thankful that it doesn’t occur that often.

Can you imagine having to deal with it a countless number of times every day of history? Welcome to our God’s world.

What do I mean? Every time we worry about something, every time we’re convinced that things are out of control in our lives or in our world, every time we doubt that our God knows what’s going on in our lives or we doubt his power to do something about whatever we’re facing, we’re making the statement that our God has let something slip out of his hands. Worse yet, we’re proclaiming that we’ll take care of things because we can’t be sure he can and will.

Stunningly backwards, isn’t it? The creature telling the Creator what to do? Really?

But it’s all too common, and God’s sinful people have been plagued with this propensity ever since Satan caused our first parents to doubt God’s endless love and devotion to them. We see it today in the life of Elijah, one of God’s greatest prophets. Our God’s interaction with his prophet encouraged him and all of us to put it in his hands. Put it all in the hands of your God. Let’s see why as we ponder his words.

Part I.

In your opinion, what’s out of control in our world today? It’s a good thing I’m not going to ask you to verbalize your list, because none of us has that kind of time today. Everywhere you turn in our world, it seems something is out of control. ISIS. Radicalized Muslims within our borders. The heroin epidemic. The Zika virus. Politics in the United States of America. The cost of higher education. The trash that passes for entertainment. Internet pornography. Evil people taking advantage of innocent people. How many more are on your list? I’m sure I’ve missed more than a few. Our world seems to be spinning out of control.

That was Elijah’s perspective 2800 years ago. He served the Jews of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, which, at this time, looked anything like what God intended his people to be. It was a spiritual cesspool, and I’m not exaggerating. These were God’s people lining up at shrines to the idol called Baal in order to engage in temple prostitution. God’s people were under the delusion that Baal caused the rain to fall which in turn caused their crops to grow and their herds to increase. They even sacrificed their children by fire to another detestable false god. And their kings didn’t oppose any of it; in fact, they were the ones promoting it. Israel had hit spiritual bottom.

Things were no better on the political front. It was a time of international strife. The Arameans, just north of Israel, whose capital was Damascus, were a constant thorn in Israel’s side. They raided Israel’s territory, plundered its goods, and enslaved Jewish people. Meanwhile, the Assyrians just a little farther north were gaining power. What the Assyrian army would become in just a few decades made the Aramean army look like choir boys.

In the midst of it all, Elijah was God’s faithful prophet, proclaiming God’s law as he called the people to repent and to return to the Lord and announcing God’s forgiveness to those who took his words to heart. But there weren’t very many, at least it didn’t seem so to Elijah. Listen to his comments once again, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” By the way, this conversation took place just a few weeks after the Lord’s mighty display of power on Mt. Carmel where he sent fire from heaven to burn up Elijah’s offering in front of the 450 priests of Baal. That victory for the Lord was fleeting, in Elijah’s mind. Wicked Queen Jezebel had placed a price on Elijah’s head. He was a marked man. His ministry seemed to be a complete failure. And he wondered, “Where is my God in all of this?”

God’s response? In effect, he stated, “I’ll take care of everything.” Listen to what he said, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu.” The Lord was so in control of things that he deposed and replaced kings as he willed. At God’s direction, the Arameans, Israel’s sworn enemy, would have a new king. Same with Israel. God’s judgment on these nations would be swift and final. To put it bluntly, heads would roll. From the Bible we know that Jehu put to death every person in Ahab’s family.Likewise with all the priests of Baal. The Bible doesn’t record how Elisha carried out God’s judgment, but we assume from these words that he did. God was perfectly in control.

He still is. So put it all in the hands of your God. He operates his world.

“As much as things change, they stay the same.” That paradox is certainly true regarding the chaos in our world. Within a few decades of the fall into sin, Cain murders Abel and Cain’s descendants persist in his rejection of the Lord to the point that they glory in the sins they commit. Sounds contemporary, doesn’t it? The Jews of Elijah’s day would rather do anything than devote themselves to the Lord. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Evil people oppressed and opposed those who trusted in the Lord. Are we talking about Elijah’s day or our own? It doesn’t matter. What matters is what God is doing. He’s still in control. He always has been. That’s why he was able to use a powerful heathen nation—the Romans—to fulfill his promise not only to send the Savior into the world, but also to sacrifice that Savior for the sins of the world. You talk about having things in hand! And yet we doubt him. We shake our heads in disbelief and wonder where his control is in our world and in our lives. Go to the cross, dear bewildered Christians. There find your forgiveness for doubting God’s plans and power. There find your certainty that everything is in his hands. He operates his world.

Part II.

Working hard for years with nothing to show for it. That was Elijah’s self-evaluation of his work as a prophet. He puts it rather bluntly, “I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” At this point, the Lord’s Church on earth seemed to be on life support.

But the Lord of the Church was still in control. He corrected Elijah’s assessment. “I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.” I’m not sure what percentage 7,000 represented. I’m sure God’s people were in the minority. But 7,000 is far from “the only one left.”

And the Lord was far from throwing up the white flag. He had plans. Listen to them, “Anoint Elisha…to succeed you as prophet.” Imagine how that must have bolstered Elijah’s confidence. His work would not end with him. It would go on in the person and work of Elisha.

“So Elijah went from there and found Elisha.” He wasted no time. Elisha was in the midst of plowing a field with 12 yoke of oxen—an indication that his family was wealthy. “Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.” Elisha fully understood this symbolic act. He was being called by the Lord as the next prophet to God’s people. And he accepted. First, he said good-bye to his parents and threw a going-away party for his family and friends. And then we read, “He set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.” He did whatever he could to assist Elijah in his duties. Along the way he learned much from this great prophet, lessons that would serve him well in the coming years as he took up the prophet’s mantle after the Lord called Elijah home to heaven in a whirlwind. The point is that God will never let his Church to be without his word and those who proclaim that word. He always provides for his Church. So put it all into the hands of your God!

We’re rightly concerned about the Church on earth today. It’s being attacked on so many fronts. It seems that Christian influence on our society is waning, that our beloved country is become less and less “Christian.” But that’s nothing new. Every age of the Church on earth has seen its challenge. In fact, there have been times when the Church on earth has been its own worst enemy. But it will never perish. The Lord will always preserve for himself a remnant of his people just as he did in Elijah’s day. Rather than deplore the inroads Satan has made, take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Cherish that word and wield it against all that is false, all that is of the devil himself. Do so with confidence, knowing that Jesus has already defeated Satan. Since Jesus won, we, too, win. So put it all in the hands of your God. It will be OK. Your God promises it to you in Jesus. Amen.