A PROCESS OF COURAGE: TIMING

• DAY 265
• FAITH FILE: ELIJAH
• SCRIPTURES: I KINGS 18:20-40

And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.” So all the people answered and said, “It is well spoken.”

I KINGS 18:21-24

When we read the story of Elijah on Mount Camel, we are so taken by the theatrics and drama that took place; this epic standoff that is cinema-worthy and Emmy-deserving. The way Elijah challenged the children of Israel to stand with God. 450 prophets dancing and cutting themselves as they call out to Baal to no avail. And the way that Elijah mocks them throughout. Let’s not forget the water that was poured on the entire sacrifice to top the difficulty and when the fire came it swept up everything and turned it all to dust. All of these are beautiful pieces that could make a great movie. However, in all of this drama, we miss the process. Elijah went through a process right there on that mountain.

I believe that every word, story, and account in the bible was recorded on purpose. So every part of this process was recorded intentionally. It was important enough to include all that Elijah did and all that the prophets of baal did. Their dancing and cutting themselves was their process to get answers from baal and Elijah’s actions were intentional too. We will look at this process for 3 days starting from today.

The first part of the process was the time.

The Right Time

“And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.” – 1 Kings 18:29

In bible days, the Jewish evening sacrifice had a significant role in temple worship. It took place at around 3 p.m. as a way to show thanks and seek forgiveness. The evening sacrifice had two purposes: to purify oneself from wrongdoing and to symbolize the reconciliation between man and God, renewing their bond. The entire purpose of this stand-off between Elijah and baal’s prophets was to reconcile Israel to God. I believe that Elijah chose this time intentionally. He waited and allowed the prophets of Baal to dance around until it was another time for sacrifice. Because that would mean that God is expecting incense.

You see, you can have all the courage, faith, and confidence in the world but if you lack timing you will destroy things. There is a time for everything under heaven. As long as you are under heaven timing is important. You want to share how what your husband did hurt you and you chose the wrong time, that fight could last for days because the time compounded the matter.

Sometimes we want to see God move in our lives but we are not willing to wait for His timing. There is a right time for courage and if you miss it you will miss all that God has in store for you. Faith always has an appointed time and although sometimes the time is now, it is still a time. If you go before the time you will crash and if you go after the time you will suffer losses.

This season is the Kairos moment for some things you are believing God for, don’t wait on it. but for some the right time is still ahead, to you I say wait on the Lord.

Shalom.