Duel of Fire

This is a rather long Bible passage but once you start reading this story you can not stop half way through!

1 Kings 18.16-46

Reference:  v.38  Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil and also licked up the water in the trench.  (NIV Bible)

Explore:  I know that this is a rather long Bible passage but once you start reading this story you can not stop half way through!  What a powerful story of Elijah on Mount Carmel when he challenges the prophets of Baal and Asherah to a duel of fire.  And the finale is so fulfilling.  After the prophets of Baal and Asherah have spent all day crying out to their god Elijah steps forward, says one prayer and God responds in a tangible way.

Application:  I often expect God to respond like this every time I have a crisis.  But we are certainly not in control of when God acts.  Let's keep in mind that up until this point there have already been many prophets of God that have been killed and oppressed by Jezebel. However, while our common experience may be that we need to wait upon the Lord, we can see throughout history that He can and does respond in huge ways.  We must never underestimate the power of God just because we can not predict when he will respond.  Our God is the mighty Lord.  His power is beyond all other gods.  While we may struggle to see him in the everyday we need to be aware that He can move beyond our expectations.

Prayer:  Lord, we can not control you nor predict your actions.  But we lay our lives in your hands, believing that you know what is right and true.  Amen.

When have you experienced a Mount Carmel situation?  Did it change your relationship with God?

1 Kings