Abandoning the Call

"And he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he night die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers:" -1 Kings 19:4

Elijah, one of God's greatest Generals made a decision to resign from the ministry. He was tired, weary, discouraged, and alone. He had obeyed God and totally surrendered his life the call, but the pressure of the enemy, Jezebel, was too much for him. He expected God to deal with her after God's miraculous display of power shown to the prophets of Baal. He expected her to change and realize that Jehovah was the only true God. But the opposite occurred. She became more persistant in her quest to destroy him, so Elijah fled. As we read 1 Kings 19:4-5, we find Elijah camped under a juniper tree in total defeat.

He is so disappointed with God that he is ready to quit the ministry. In fact, the discouragement is so great that he requested that God take his life..."It is enough: now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers." In other words, "I've had it God! It is enough! Just kill me and get it over with. I am a a no good failure!"

Friend, can you relate to Elijah? Well, I certainly can. There are times when we all wonder why God doesn't come through the way that we expected. We all get discouraged at times in the Christian journey. I recently experienced a season in which I was very discouraged.

I want to know why God calls us, gives us a dream, brings us to the place to total surrender to Him, and then He just leaves us to WAIT. He doesn't fulfill the dream in the timing we hoped, He just puts us through the waiting period. I call it the "testing of your patience" period, because it seems like the dream has died and you will never fulfill your destiny on earth. You wait and wait and wait with no answer. You finally come to a place where you begin to question the call upon your life altogether. Then you come face to face with God and are ready to throw in the towel and abandon the call.

I believe that every servant of God who has been CHOSEN by God faces the same mirror as Elijah. And the enemy will use discouagement to cause us to abandon our call. The devil wants us out of the way because we are a threat to his kingdom. If we give in, he wins. If we give in, WE LOSE! Elijah became so discouraged, that even after a visitation from an angel, he fled to a cave in the mountain. All alone and ready to end his life, he is astounded by an unexpected visitation. God visits him, bestows grace upon him, and recommissions him. And that's only the beginning. For Elijah would continue his ministry with no knowledge of the miraculous exit that God had planned for the end of his earthly life! If Elijah would have taken his life when facing discouragement, he would have missed the gradeur of escaping death altogether! God arranged for him to be escorted to Heaven with Heavenly horses and a Heavenly chariot!

IF WE COULD JUST HAVE A GLIMPSE into God's perfect plan, we would know that ALL THINGS work together for good! No matter what you are facing today, no matter how difficult the situation seems, just continue to press on. Continue to hold on to the dream that He gave you. He is in control and He has the perfect time for the dream to come to pass. He will not fail you. His WILL keep His promise. Be encouraged today and be steadfast in your walk with the Lord. He will fulfill His promise to you!