The Daily Dose

Don’t hear just what you want to hear

“Therefore look! The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.” ~ 1 Kings 22:23

 Have you ever asked someone for their opinion when, deep down, you already knew what you wanted them to say? Maybe you weren’t really looking for advice, you were looking for agreement. We can ask five people the same question until we finally find the one person who says what we wanted to hear in the first place. At that point, we’re not looking for wisdom, we’re looking for a spiritual permission slip.

Today’s scripture reading gives us one of the clearest pictures in Scripture of the danger of surrounding ourselves with voices that simply tell us what we want to hear. King Ahab wanted to go to battle against Syria, and he gathered four hundred prophets who told him exactly what he wanted to hear. Everything sounded encouraging. Everything sounded confident. Everything sounded like victory was guaranteed.

But Jehoshaphat wasn’t convinced. He asked if there was a prophet of the Lord they could consult. Ahab reluctantly called Micaiah, a prophet he didn’t like because Micaiah never seemed to tell him what he wanted to hear. Sure enough, Micaiah told him the truth, and Ahab didn’t like it. The problem wasn’t that Ahab didn’t have access to God’s truth. The problem was that he didn’t want to listen to it.

As God’s people today, we need to be careful about the voices we allow to shape our decisions. The world gives us plenty of opinions, social media gives us plenty of advice, friends give us plenty of perspectives, and our own emotions can be very convincing. But not every voice deserves a seat at the table.

Here are three important truths to take from this chapter about hearing God’s voice, responding to truth, and staying faithful when the truth isn’t what we wanted to hear.

1. Don’t confuse popularity with truth

Four hundred prophets told Ahab essentially the same thing, go to battle and you’ll win. Then Micaiah showed up and told him something completely different. If you were standing in that room, it would have been easy to think, “Well, four hundred people can’t all be wrong.” But, actually, they can.

Numbers don’t determine truth, popularity doesn’t determine truth and having a whole room full of people agreeing with you doesn’t automatically mean it’s right.

We live in a world where opinions can become popular overnight. One video gets millions of views, one idea starts trending, and suddenly it feels as though everyone believes the same thing. But God’s people aren’t called to determine truth by counting how many people agree with us. Sometimes the right thing isn’t the popular thing.

Maybe you’re making a decision at work and everyone is encouraging you to take a shortcut. Maybe friends are telling you that holding onto an offense is completely justified. Maybe you’re considering a relationship and everyone around you is saying, “Go for it,” even though something inside you is causing you to pause. Maybe you’re being pressured to make a decision quickly because everyone else seems convinced. Popularity can be loud, but truth doesn’t need a crowd.

Before making an important decision, take time to ask, “What does God’s Word say?” Then give yourself enough quiet space to actually listen. The wisest thing you can do is step away from the noise long enough to hear clearly.

2. Be willing to hear what you don’t want to hear

Ahab didn’t like Micaiah because Micaiah didn’t tell him what he wanted to hear. In fact, when Micaiah first responded sarcastically, Ahab immediately knew he wasn’t being sincere and demanded the truth. Micaiah then told him plainly that Israel would be scattered and that Ahab’s plan would end in disaster. The truth wasn’t popular, but it was necessary.

This is where spiritual maturity becomes important. It’s easy to love God’s Word when it confirms what we’re already doing. It’s much harder when God’s Word challenges our attitudes, decisions, habits, and desires.

We can sometimes approach Scripture like we’re looking for encouragement only. “Lord, give me a verse that makes me feel better about this decision.” But sometimes God loves us enough to give us a verse that makes us uncomfortable. God’s correction isn’t rejection. His conviction isn’t condemnation. Sometimes the uncomfortable truth is exactly what protects us from a painful consequence later.

Maybe God is dealing with an attitude you’ve been carrying toward someone. Maybe you’ve been justifying a habit that you know isn’t healthy for your spiritual life. Maybe you’ve been asking God to bless a decision you’ve already made without ever asking Him whether it’s actually His will.

When Scripture challenges you, don’t immediately look for a way around it. Stop and ask, “Lord, what are You showing me?” A teachable heart says, “God, even if I don’t like what You’re saying, I want to know what is true.” That’s a prayer God can work with.

3. Don’t let fear make you abandon what God has told you

Micaiah stood almost completely alone in a room full of people who disagreed with him. He knew what he had to say, and he said it anyway. That takes courage.

We often think courage means being loud, confident, or fearless. But biblical courage can look much quieter. Sometimes courage is simply standing firm when everyone around you is moving in another direction.

Micaiah didn’t change his message because the room didn’t like it. He didn’t adjust the truth because the king was angry. He didn’t decide that perhaps four hundred voices must know better than one. In the same way, there will be moments in our lives when standing for what God says feels lonely.

Maybe you’re the person in your family trying to follow God’s ways when others don’t understand. Maybe you’re in a workplace where your values aren’t shared by everyone. Maybe you’ve made a decision to forgive when others think you’re foolish for doing it. Maybe you’re choosing integrity when taking the easier path would benefit you. You don’t need everyone to understand your obedience for it to be obedience.

At the same time, this doesn’t mean we should become people who think we’re always right and everyone else is wrong. Micaiah’s courage wasn’t rooted in stubbornness. It was rooted in delivering what God had said. Theres an important distinction.We need humility and courage at the same time. We should be willing to listen, willing to learn, willing to receive correction, and willing to stand firm when God’s Word is clear.

This chapter reminds us that there will always be voices competing for our attention. Some will tell us what we want to hear. Some will tell us what will make us comfortable. Some will tell us what will make us popular. But God’s voice may sometimes lead us in a direction that requires courage, patience, humility, or change. The question isn’t simply, “What do I want to hear?” The better question is, “Lord, what do You want me to hear?”

Today I want to encourage you to become someone who values truth more than agreement. Don’t be afraid of God’s voice when it challenges you. Don’t run from correction simply because it makes you uncomfortable. And don’t assume that because everyone around you agrees with something, it must be God’s will. Ask God to give you a heart that can recognize His voice, receive His correction, and obey His direction.

Sometimes God will encourage you with exactly what you hoped to hear. Other times, He’ll lovingly interrupt your plans and say, “That’s not the way.” When He does, don’t take it as God being against you. Take it as God caring enough to redirect you. You don’t need four hundred voices telling you that you’re right when you have God’s truth guiding your steps and you don’t need to be afraid when following God makes you the only person in the room saying yes to what He has said. The safest place isn’t always where everyone agrees with you. It’s where you’re agreeing with God and following His plan and direction.

Today’s scripture reading: 1 Kings 22

1 Now three years passed without war between Syria and Israel. 

2 Then it came to pass, in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went down to visit the king of Israel.

3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, but we hesitate to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?” 

4 So he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight at Ramoth Gilead?”

Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” 

5 Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire for the word of the Lord today.”

6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain?”

So they said, “Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”

7 And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of Him?”

8 So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!”

9 Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, “Bring Micaiah the son of Imlah quickly!”

10 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, having put on their robes, sat each on his throne, at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. 

11 Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself; and he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed.’ ” 

12 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hand.”

13 Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, “Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Please, let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement.”

14 And Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak.”

15 Then he came to the king; and the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall we refrain?”

And he answered him, “Go and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king!”

16 So the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”

17 Then he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.’ ”

18 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”

19 Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left. 

20 And the Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. 

21 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ 

22 The Lord said to him, ‘In what way?’ So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the Lord said, ‘You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.’ 

23 Therefore look! The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.”

24 Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, “Which way did the spirit from the Lord go from me to speak to you?”

25 And Micaiah said, “Indeed, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide!”

26 So the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah, and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son; 

27 and say, ‘Thus says the king: “Put this fellow in prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction, until I come in peace.” ’ ”

28 But Micaiah said, “If you ever return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Take heed, all you people!”

Ahab Dies in Battle

29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. 

30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle; but you put on your robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.

31 Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, “Fight with no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel.” 

32 So it was, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, “Surely it is the king of Israel!” Therefore they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out. 

33 And it happened, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. 

34 Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded.”

35 The battle increased that day; and the king was propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians, and died at evening. The blood ran out from the wound onto the floor of the chariot. 

36 Then, as the sun was going down, a shout went throughout the army, saying, “Every man to his city, and every man to his own country!”

37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria. 

38 Then someone washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood while the harlots bathed, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken.

39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, the ivory house which he built and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 

40 So Ahab rested with his fathers. Then Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.

41 Jehoshaphat the son of Asa had become king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. 

42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 

43 And he walked in all the ways of his father Asa. He did not turn aside from them, doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Nevertheless the high places were not taken away, for the people offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. 

44 Also Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.

45 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, the might that he showed, and how he made war, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 

46 And the rest of the perverted persons, who remained in the days of his father Asa, he banished from the land. 

47 There was then no king in Edom, only a deputy of the king.

48 Jehoshaphat made merchant ships to go to Ophir for gold; but they never sailed, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion Geber. 

49 Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.” But Jehoshaphat would not.

50 And Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his father. Then Jehoram his son reigned in his place.

Ahaziah Reigns in Israel

51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel. 

52 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; 

53 for he served Baal and worshiped him, and provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger, according to all that his father had done.

Journal:

• Are there areas of my life where I’m more interested in hearing what I want than hearing what God wants?
• Who are the voices that have the greatest influence on my decisions right now?
• Is there something God may be showing me through His Word that I’ve been reluctant to accept?
• Have I ever confused popularity or agreement with truth? What happened?
• Where might God be asking me to stand firm, even if I feel alone?
• What would it look like for me to pray, “Lord, even if I don’t like what You say, help me be willing to hear it and obey”?

Don’t let desires get the best of you

_{But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!” ~ 1 Kings 21:3}

Have you ever wanted something so badly that it became all you could think about? You know the feeling. You see it, you think about it, you imagine how much better life would be if you had it, and before long, that one thing has taken up entirely too much space in your mind. It might be a possession, a position, an opportunity, a relationship, recognition, or simply getting your own way. We may not throw ourselves on our beds and refuse to eat like King Ahab did, but sometimes our hearts can have their own little temper tantrum.

Today’s scripture reading introduces a man named Naboth who owned a vineyard next to King Ahab’s palace. Ahab wanted the vineyard and offered Naboth money or another vineyard in exchange. Naboth refused because the land had been passed down to him as an inheritance from his family. Ahab went home angry and refused to eat. Jezebel saw his disappointment and decided she would take matters into her own hands. What followed was deception, false accusations, injustice, and eventually Naboth’s death.

This chapter is about much more than an ancient king wanting a piece of property. It shows us what can happen when desire is allowed to take control of our hearts, and it reminds us that God’s people are called to live differently in a world where getting what we want can sometimes seem more important than doing what is right.

Here are three ways we can guard our hearts when we’re faced with disappointment, desire, and the temptation to compromise.

1. Be careful when disappointment starts controlling your heart

Ahab wasn’t simply disappointed that Naboth wouldn’t sell him the vineyard. He became consumed by it. Scripture says he went into his house sullen and displeased, lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and refused to eat.

Ahab had a palace, position, wealth, authority, and probably more vineyards than he could ever personally tend. Yet he let himself become miserable because he couldn’t have one particular vineyard. Isn’t it interesting how quickly one thing he didn’t have made him forget about all the things he did have?

We can do the same thing. We can have a loving family, a good church, meaningful friendships, a place to live, food on the table, and countless reasons to be thankful, but one unanswered prayer or one thing that isn’t going our way can dominate our thoughts.

Maybe you’ve been passed over for something you wanted. Maybe someone else received an opportunity you had hoped would be yours. Maybe you’re waiting for a relationship to change, a financial situation to improve, or a door to open. Disappointment is real, and God doesn’t ask us to pretend that it isn’t. But disappointment becomes dangerous when we allow it to become the voice that directs our choices.

When something doesn’t go the way you hoped, take it to God before you take it out on everyone around you. Tell Him you’re disappointed. Tell Him you’re frustrated. Tell Him you don’t understand. God can handle an honest conversation. Then ask Him to help you keep what you want from becoming more important than what He wants. Sometimes the greatest spiritual victory isn’t getting the thing you’ve been asking for. Sometimes it’s being able to say, “God, I trust You even if I don’t get it.”

2. Don’t let someone else give you permission to compromise

Jezebel saw Ahab’s disappointment and essentially said, “Is this how you act when you’re king?” Then she stepped in and arranged a plan to get Naboth’s vineyard. Ahab had a problem, and Jezebel offered a solution that completely ignored righteousness.

This is an important warning for us because not every encouraging voice is helping. Sometimes people can make us feel justified in doing something we already know isn’t right. You might hear things like, “Everyone does it.” “You deserve it.” “Nobody will know.” “You have to look out for yourself.” “They treated you badly, so you don’t owe them anything.” Those statements may sound reasonable in the moment, but God’s standard doesn’t change simply because someone gives us permission to ignore it.

Think about how easily compromise can happen in everyday life. Someone gossips about another person, and instead of walking away, you join the conversation. Someone treats you unfairly, and suddenly you feel justified in treating them unfairly in return. You know you’re supposed to forgive, but someone tells you that holding onto the offense is completely understandable. There will always be people willing to help you justify what God is asking you to surrender.

That’s why it is so important to know God’s Word for yourselves. You can’t depend entirely on someone else’s opinion when it comes to making decisions about right and wrong. Before you act, ask yourself, “Would I still believe this is the right thing to do if nobody was cheering me on?” God’s people aren’t called to do what gets the most applause. We’re called to do what honors Him.

3. God sees what people try to hide

Ahab and Jezebel may have thought their plan was successful. Naboth was dead, and the vineyard was now available. From a human perspective, it looked like they had gotten away with it. But they hadn’t. God sent Elijah to confront Ahab and expose what had happened. God saw the injustice even when other people couldn’t see it.

This is both sobering and encouraging. It’s sobering because God sees what we may be able to hide from people. But it’s encouraging because God also sees what people may do to us when nobody else knows.

Maybe you’ve experienced something unfair and wondered if anyone noticed. Maybe you’ve been misunderstood, overlooked, falsely accused, or treated unjustly. Perhaps you did the right thing and it seemed like the person who did the wrong thing came out ahead. This chapter reminds us that God sees.

You don’t have to manipulate the situation to make sure justice happens. You don’t have to spend all your energy trying to prove your side. You don’t have to become consumed with getting even. That doesn’t mean you ignore legitimate problems or refuse to address injustice. It means you don’t have to carry the burden of being the ultimate judge.

There are times when we need to speak up, set healthy boundaries, report wrongdoing, or seek appropriate help. But we can do those things without allowing bitterness to take over our hearts.

God sees what happened. God knows the truth. God knows the motives of every heart. That should give us great peace when we’re treated unfairly, and it should also cause us to examine our own hearts when we’re tempted to take advantage of someone else.

One of the most powerful take aways from 1 Kings 21 is that the real battle isn’t always about the thing we want. It’s about what that desire is doing inside of us. Ahab wanted a vineyard, but the deeper issue was a heart that had become dissatisfied and entitled. Jezebel wanted to solve his problem, but her solution revealed a willingness to sacrifice what was right to get what she wanted. Naboth, on the other hand, stood firm when pressured to give up something he believed he was supposed to protect.

Every day, we have opportunities to choose which path we’re going to take. We can let disappointment make us bitter, or we can bring it to God. We can listen to voices that encourage compromise, or we can let God’s Word be our standard. We can become consumed with getting even, or we can trust God with what we can’t control.

Today I want to encourage you to guard your heart when you don’t get what you want. Disappointment doesn’t have to become discouragement, and discouragement doesn’t have to become bitterness. What looks like a closed door may simply be an invitation to trust God in a deeper way.

Don’t allow one thing you don’t have to steal your gratitude for everything God has already given you. Don’t let another person’s voice convince you to compromise what you know is right. And when you’ve been treated unfairly, remember that God sees what others may never see.

You don’t have to manipulate your way into God’s promises. You don’t have to compromise your convictions to get ahead. You don’t have to fight every battle yourself. Keep your heart right. Keep listening to God. Keep doing what is right, even when doing what is right doesn’t seem to benefit you immediately. God sees, He knows, He is just and you can trust Him with what you have and what you don’t have.

Today’s scripture reading: 1 Kings 21

1 And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 

2 So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near, next to my house; and for it I will give you a vineyard better than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money.”

3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!”

4 So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food. 

5 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?”

6 He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”

7 Then Jezebel his wife said to him, “You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

8 And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. 

9 She wrote in the letters, saying,

Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people; 

10 and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, “You have blasphemed God and the king.” Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die.

11 So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. 

12 They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. 

13 And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!” Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died. 

14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”

15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” 

16 So it was, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

17 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 

18 “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. 

19 You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Have you murdered and also taken possession?” ’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours.” ’ ”

20 So Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?”

And he answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord: 

21 ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free. 

22 I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and made Israel sin.’ 

23 And concerning Jezebel the Lord also spoke, saying, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’ 

24 The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field.”

25 But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up. 

26 And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.

27 So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning.

28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 

29 “See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.”

Journal:

• Is there something I want so badly right now that it has begun to occupy too much of my thoughts?
• How have I responded when I’ve experienced disappointment or felt like I’ve been overlooked?
• Is there a voice in my life encouraging me to compromise something I know God has asked me to protect?
• Have I experienced a situation where I was treated unfairly? What would it look like for me to trust God with the outcome while still taking any appropriate steps I need to take?
• What is one thing I can thank God for today that I might be taking for granted?
• Where do I need to say, “God, I trust You even if I don’t get what I want”?

Our Father’s Agenda

Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him. ~ Mark 15:32

Have you ever started your day with a carefully planned schedule only to have God interrupt it with something completely unexpected? Sometimes the greatest moments of purpose are found in the interruptions we never planned.

Everyone in today’s passage had an agenda. Simon of Cyrene was simply passing by. The soldiers were doing their jobs. The thieves had spent their lives pursuing selfish gain. The religious leaders wanted Jesus dead. The crowd was there for  entertainment. Everyone thought they were pursuing their own plans.

But right in the middle of every human agenda stood God’s eternal purpose. It was really what everyone there was to accomplish. Simon never expected to carry a cross that morning. The soldiers had no idea they were participating in the greatest moment of redemption in history. The priests believed they were silencing Jesus but they were really helping fulfill prophecy.

Every person thought they were in control, but God was the one that put together that plan and He is the One who made it happen at that exact moment in time.

And what about Jesus? His agenda never changed. While everyone around Him focused on themselves, Jesus remained focused on His Father. Even while hanging on the cross, He prayed, “Father, forgive them.” He wasn’t thinking about escaping, praying for the pain to go away, trying to prove He was right or trying to protect His reputation. He was completing His Father’s assignment.

That challenges me, today. How often do I wake up thinking only about my own plans? How often does God lovingly interrupt my schedule because He has something better in mind? Following Jesus means surrendering not only our lives, but also our calendars, our conversations, and our expectations.

Here area some simple ways to practice living on God’s agenda.

1. Begin every morning by asking, “Lord, what do You want to accomplish through my life today?”
2. Hold your schedule loosely enough for God to redirect it.
3. View interruptions as possible divine appointments.
4. Remember that God’s purpose is always greater than your convenience.

In my life, I’ve seen some of God’s greatest opportunities have arrived disguised as interruptions. The meeting that ran late, the unexpected phone call, or the conversation I didn’t have time for often became the very assignment God had planned all along. God’s calendar doesn’t always match mine. Thankfully, His is much more organized than mine!

Here are some ways you can get started today:

• Pray before looking at your schedule.
• Ask God to show you one person to encourage today.
• Welcome interruptions instead of resenting them.
• End your day by thanking God for the opportunities He provided.

Today I want to encourage you to surrender your agenda to your heavenly Father every single day. Invite Him to direct your steps, interrupt your plans when necessary, and lead you into the assignments He has prepared just for you. There is no greater joy than partnering with God in His purpose. When you live for His agenda instead of your own, you’ll discover the peace, fulfillment, and eternal impact that only come from walking where He is leading.

Today’s scripture reading: Mark 15:21-32

21 Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross. 

22 And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 

23 Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it. 

24 And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.

25 Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. 

26 And the inscription of His accusation was written above:

THE KING OF THE JEWS.

27 With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. 

28 So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with the transgressors.”

29 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, 

30 save Yourself, and come down from the cross!”

31 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. 

32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

Journal:

• Am I living primarily for my agenda or God’s?
• How has God used interruptions in my life before?
• What assignment might God have for me today?
• Am I willing to change my plans if He asks?
• How can I become more sensitive to His leading?

Does good pride exist?

Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison. ~ Mark 15:16

Have you ever caught yourself saying, “I’m proud of my kids,” or “I take pride in my work?” or even “I was so proud of my self for getting that done?” Those phrases are so common that we rarely stop to think about them. But have you ever wondered why Scripture consistently warns us about pride?

The Bible never presents pride as a virtue but rather is warns that the Lord hates it and it brings destruction.  The reality is that scripture continually points us toward humility.

Why? Because pride quietly shifts the focus from God or others to ourselves. Pride whispers, “Look what I’ve done.” Humility says, “Look what God has done.”

As Jesus stood before the Roman soldiers, He gave us the greatest picture of a humble spirit the world has ever seen.

The entire garrison gathered to mock Him. They dressed Him in purple, pressed a crown of thorns onto His head, spit on Him, struck Him and made fun of the King of kings.

Yet Jesus never demanded His rights. He never defended His reputation. He never called for angels to rescue Him. Instead, He willingly humbled Himself because He loved us.

Philippians 2 tells us: Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.

Isaiah says: it pleased the Father to bruise Him because through that sacrifice salvation would come to the world.

Jesus wasn’t humiliated because He was powerless, He humbled Himself because He was obedient. There is a tremendous difference. Humility is strength under God’s control.

Here are some important points to consider when you feel a sense of pride coming on:

• Thank God for every success instead of taking the credit yourself.
• Celebrate others without comparing yourself to them.
• Look for opportunities to serve quietly without needing recognition.
• Ask God to expose any pride hiding in your heart before it grows.

One thing I’ve noticed is that pride is sneaky. It rarely walks through the front door announcing itself. It usually sneaks in wearing a disguise called “I deserve better.” Or “I’ve worked so hard for this.” That’s why we need the Holy Spirit to continually search our hearts.

Start here:

• Thank God for something you’ve accomplished.
• Encourage someone else’s success.
• Look for an unnoticed act of service.
• Ask God to search your heart for pride.

Today I want to encourage you to choose humility every day. Follow Jesus’ example by serving others, giving God the glory, and remembering that every good thing in your life comes from Him. Humility doesn’t make you weak. It makes room for God’s strength to shine through you. There is no greater compliment than hearing your heavenly Father say, “Well done.”

Today’s scripture reading: Mark 15:16-20

16 Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison. 

17 And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, 

18 and began to salute Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 

19 Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him. 

20 And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.

Journal:

• Where am I tempted to seek recognition?
• Am I quick to give God the glory?
• How can I serve someone today?
• What does humility look like in my current season?
• How has Jesus modeled humility for me?

Don’t be fooled

Suddenly a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ ” ~ 1 Kings 20:13

Have you ever looked at a situation and thought, “There is absolutely no way I can handle this”? Maybe the problem in front of you seems too big, the resources you have seem too small, and if you’re being completely honest, you’d really like God to send someone else to deal with it. Sometimes life can feel a little like standing in front of a mountain with a butter knife and being told, “Go ahead!” Today’s scripture reading reminds us that God doesn’t need our circumstances to look manageable before He can give us victory.

In this chapter, Israel faced a powerful enemy, and King Ahab was confronted with a situation that looked impossible. Ben Hadad and his large army threatened Israel, and from a human perspective, Israel didn’t seem to have much of a chance. But God stepped into the situation and made something very clear. The battle wasn’t going to be won because Israel had the greatest army, the best strategy, or the most impressive leader. God wanted His people to know that He is Lord.

Here are three truths that can encourage us when we’re facing circumstances that seem bigger than we are.

1. God can work through what looks insufficient

The first thing we see in this chapter is that God can use what seems small or insufficient to accomplish something much greater. In verse 13, God told Ahab that He would deliver the enormous army into his hand. Then, in verse 14, Ahab asked who would do it, and the answer is unbelievable. It would be accomplished through the young leaders of the provinces.

That probably wasn’t the answer anyone expected. If you’re facing a massive problem, you don’t usually look around and say, “You know what this situation needs? A group of young leaders with limited experience and resources.” But God often works through people and resources that don’t look impressive by human standards.

We can easily do the same thing in our own lives. We look at what we have and think, “I don’t have enough time. I don’t have enough money. I don’t know enough. I don’t have the influence. I don’t have the experience.” But God isn’t limited by what we don’t have.

Maybe you’re leading something right now and you’re wondering how you’re going to accomplish everything that’s been placed in front of you. Maybe you have a ministry responsibility, a family situation, a financial need, or a relationship that feels beyond your ability to fix. Instead of focusing only on what you’re missing, ask God what He wants you to do with what you already have.

A small act of obedience can become significant when it’s placed in God’s hands. A phone call, an encouraging word, a prayer, an invitation, a few hours of your time, or simply saying yes when God asks you to step forward can become part of something much bigger than you realize.

You may not have everything you think you need, but that doesn’t mean God can’t work through what you do have.

2. Don’t let yesterday’s victory make you careless today

Israel experienced victory over Ben Hadad, but the enemy wasn’t finished. Ben Hadad’s servants eventually convinced him that Israel’s God was a God of the hills, so they decided to fight Israel in the plains. They thought changing the location would change the outcome.

God wanted to make sure His people understood something important. He wasn’t only God of the hills. He was God of the valleys, the plains, and everywhere in between.

This is so awesome because it reminds us that God is with us  in our highs and in our lows.  He is the God of the mountain top and the valley.  We can sometimes put God into categories based on our past experiences. We may think, “God helped me in that situation, so surely He’ll do the exact same thing this time.” But God isn’t a formula. He is our heavenly Father and our God in every circumstance, and He may lead us differently from one situation to another because He leads through relationship.

Sometimes we also become comfortable after experiencing a victory. We get through the difficult season, breathe a sigh of relief, and think, “Okay, that’s over.” Then another challenge appears, and suddenly we’re surprised that we need God’s help again.

Life doesn’t work that way. We never grow out of needing God.

Maybe you’ve recently experienced an answer to prayer, a breakthrough, or a season where God clearly provided for you. Be thankful for it, but don’t stop seeking Him. Yesterday’s provision doesn’t mean you don’t need today’s direction. Before making that decision, pray. Before responding to that difficult person, pray. Before committing to something, pray. Before assuming you know what God is doing, pray.

We don’t need to live in fear of the next battle. We simply need to remember who is with us when it comes and keep our shield of faith high.

3. Victory doesn’t mean we can ignore obedience

One of the more sobering parts of 1 Kings 20 comes toward the end of the chapter. God gave Ahab victory, but Ahab made a decision afterward that God did not approve of. Instead of fully following God’s instructions concerning Ben Hadad, Ahab made his own agreement with him and allowed him to go free.

This reminds us that experiencing God’s blessing in one area doesn’t give us permission to disregard His direction in another.

That’s an important point because sometimes we can assume that if God is blessing us, everything we’re doing must be okay. But God’s faithfulness doesn’t mean we can stop listening.

We might see this in everyday life when we know what Scripture says, but we start making exceptions because obedience is inconvenient. Maybe God is prompting you to forgive someone, but you want to hold onto the offense because they really did hurt you. Maybe you’re being asked to have a difficult conversation, but avoiding it seems much easier. Maybe you’ve been sensing that something needs to change, but you’re hoping that if you ignore it long enough, it will magically disappear.

Unfortunately, problems rarely disappear because we give them the silent treatment. If that worked, we’d all be experts at it. Obedience isn’t about earning God’s love. It’s about responding to the God who already loves us. We don’t obey because we have everything figured out. We obey because we trust the One who does and follow the plan already designed for success.

This chapter reminds us that God is able to meet us in battles that look completely beyond our ability. But it also reminds us that victory isn’t the end of our responsibility. We still need to listen, follow, and remain sensitive to His direction.

Today I want to encourage you to remember that the size of your battle doesn’t determine the size of your God. You may be looking at something today that feels overwhelming, but God isn’t overwhelmed. You may feel like you don’t have enough, but God has never needed you to have everything before He can use you. You may be standing in a valley after previously experiencing a victory on the mountaintop, but God is still God there too.

Don’t allow fear to convince you that you can’t move forward. Don’t allow yesterday’s victory to make you careless about today’s obedience. And don’t allow the size of the challenge to make you forget who is standing with you.

God is still Lord in the places that feel impossible. He’s still Lord when the resources seem small. He’s still Lord when the answer doesn’t come the way you expected. And He’s still asking His people to trust Him, listen to Him, and take the next step of obedience. You don’t have to figure out the whole battle today. Ask God what your next step is and then be willing to take it.

Today’s scripture reading: 1 Kings 20

1 Now Ben-Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his forces together; thirty-two kings were with him, with horses and chariots. And he went up and besieged Samaria, and made war against it. 

2 Then he sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel, and said to him, “Thus says Ben-Hadad: 

3 ‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your loveliest wives and children are mine.’ ”

4 And the king of Israel answered and said, “My lord, O king, just as you say, I and all that I have are yours.”

5 Then the messengers came back and said, “Thus speaks Ben-Hadad, saying, ‘Indeed I have sent to you, saying, “You shall deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children”; 

6 but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants. And it shall be, that whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they will put it in their hands and take it.’ ”

7 So the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, “Notice, please, and see how this man seeks trouble, for he sent to me for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold; and I did not deny him.”

8 And all the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen or consent.”

9 Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, “Tell my lord the king, ‘All that you sent for to your servant the first time I will do, but this thing I cannot do.’ ”

And the messengers departed and brought back word to him.

10 Then Ben-Hadad sent to him and said, “The gods do so to me, and more also, if enough dust is left of Samaria for a handful for each of the people who follow me.”

11 So the king of Israel answered and said, “Tell him, ‘Let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.’ ”

12 And it happened when Ben-Hadad heard this message, as he and the kings were drinking at the command post, that he said to his servants, “Get ready.” And they got ready to attack the city.

13 Suddenly a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ ”

14 So Ahab said, “By whom?” And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘By the young leaders of the provinces.’ ” Then he said, “Who will set the battle in order?”And he answered, “You.”

15 Then he mustered the young leaders of the provinces, and there were two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he mustered all the people, all the children of Israel—seven thousand.

16 So they went out at noon. Meanwhile Ben-Hadad and the thirty-two kings helping him were getting drunk at the command post. 

17 The young leaders of the provinces went out first. And Ben-Hadad sent out a patrol, and they told him, saying, “Men are coming out of Samaria!” 

18 So he said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; and if they have come out for war, take them alive.”

19 Then these young leaders of the provinces went out of the city with the army which followed them. 

20 And each one killed his man; so the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them; and Ben-Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the cavalry. 

21 Then the king of Israel went out and attacked the horses and chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter.

22 And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself; take note, and see what you should do, for in the spring of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.”

The Syrians Again Defeated

23 Then the servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them in the plain, surely we will be stronger than they. 

24 So do this thing: Dismiss the kings, each from his position, and put captains in their places; 

25 and you shall muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain; surely we will be stronger than they.”

And he listened to their voice and did so.

26 So it was, in the spring of the year, that Ben-Hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. 

27 And the children of Israel were mustered and given provisions, and they went against them. Now the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, while the Syrians filled the countryside.

28 Then a man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The Lord is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys,” therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ ” 

29 And they encamped opposite each other for seven days. So it was that on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand foot soldiers of the Syrians in one day. 

30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; then a wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the men who were left. And Ben-Hadad fled and went into the city, into an inner chamber.

31 Then his servants said to him, “Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please, let us put sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will spare your life.” 

32 So they wore sackcloth around their waists and put ropes around their heads, and came to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’ ” And he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”

33 Now the men were watching closely to see whether any sign of mercy would come from him; and they quickly grasped at this word and said, “Your brother Ben-Hadad.”

So he said, “Go, bring him.” Then Ben-Hadad came out to him; and he had him come up into the chariot.

34 So Ben-Hadad said to him, “The cities which my father took from your father I will restore; and you may set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus.” Then Ahab said, “I will send you away with this treaty.” So he made a treaty with him and sent him away.

35 Now a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor by the word of the Lord, “Strike me, please.” And the man refused to strike him. 

36 Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, surely, as soon as you depart from me, a lion shall kill you.” And as soon as he left him, a lion found him and killed him.

37 And he found another man, and said, “Strike me, please.” So the man struck him, inflicting a wound. 

38 Then the prophet departed and waited for the king by the road, and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes. 

39 Now as the king passed by, he cried out to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and there, a man came over and brought a man to me, and said, ‘Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’ 

40 While your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.”

Then the king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it.”

41 And he hastened to take the bandage away from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 

42 Then he said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have let slip out of your hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.’”

43 So the king of Israel went to his house sullen and displeased, and came to Samaria.

Journal:

• What situation in my life currently feels bigger than my ability to handle it?
• What do I already have in my hands that God may be asking me to use?
• Have I allowed a past victory or answer to prayer to make me less dependent on God today?
• Is there an area where I know God is asking me to obey, but I’ve been hesitating?
• What is one practical step of faith and obedience I can take today?

Too tired to go on

Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.”  ~ 1 Kings 19:5 

Have you ever had a moment when you thought, “I’m done. I have nothing left”? You can be doing exactly what God called you to do and still end up completely exhausted. Elijah had just experienced one of the greatest victories of his life. He had stood on Mount Carmel, confronted the prophets of Baal, called fire down from heaven, and watched God answer in a powerful and profound way. You would think Elijah would be on top of the world. Instead, the next thing we see is him running for his life, sitting under a tree, and asking God to let him die. That’s quite a change from fire falling from heaven! It is clear that even spiritual victories can be followed by very human exhaustion.

Elijah’s story reminds us that being used by God doesn’t make us immune to weariness. Sometimes we assume that if we’re really trusting God, we’ll never feel overwhelmed, discouraged, disappointed, or tired. But today’s scripture reading shows us something important. God didn’t shame Elijah for being exhausted. He cared for him. He let him sleep. He gave him food. Then He spoke to him. There is something encouraging about knowing that God knows exactly what we need, even when we don’t know how to express what we’re feeling.

As God’s people living in today’s world, we can find ourselves surrounded by constant noise, responsibilities, expectations, bad news, busy schedules, and people who seem to need something from us every five minutes. We can love Jesus and still get tired. We can have faith and still have moments when we wonder what in the world is going on. We can experience a great victory on Sunday and wonder if we have enough energy to make it through Monday.

God wasn’t finished with Elijah simply because Elijah was exhausted. His exhaustion wasn’t the end of his story. It was a moment where God met him, restored him, redirected him, and reminded him that his assignment wasn’t over.

Here are three important truths from Elijah’s to remember when facing moments like these.

1. God knows when you need to stop.

Elijah had been running, fighting, serving, and carrying an enormous spiritual responsibility. Then God allowed him to sleep. That may sound incredibly simple, but sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is admit that you’re tired. Sometimes exhaustion can be worn like a badge of honor. We wear our busyness like we’re competing for a trophy nobody asked us to win.

God didn’t tell Elijah, “Try harder.” He didn’t say, “You need more faith.” He just let him rest. There are seasons when we need to recognize that we aren’t machines. God created us with physical, emotional, and spiritual limitations. Rest doesn’t mean we’re quitting. Sometimes rest is part of preparation for what God is going to ask us to do next.

Maybe you’ve been carrying responsibility for your family, your job, your ministry, or people who constantly need something from you. Maybe you’ve been saying yes to everyone because you don’t want to disappoint anyone. Maybe you’ve been trying to keep everything running while secretly thinking, “If one more person asks me for one more thing, I’m going to hide in the pantry.”

Sometimes you need to stop and allow God to restore you. You can do this by taking practical steps to create space for rest. Put the phone down. Turn off the notifications. Go to bed instead of trying to finish one more thing. Take a walk. Sit quietly with God. Give yourself permission to have a day that isn’t productive by everyone else’s definition.

You aren’t more valuable because you’re exhausted. Your value comes from belonging to God.

2. God speaks in the quiet times

After Elijah rested, God brought him to Mount Horeb. There was a great wind, an earthquake, and a fire, but Scripture says the Lord wasn’t in those dramatic displays. Then came “a still small voice.” 1 Kings 19:12.

Elijah had just experienced God through fire. Now God was speaking through quietness. That’s important to us today because we can sometimes assume God has to do something dramatic for it to be real. We look for the big moment, the unmistakable sign, the extraordinary circumstance, while God may be speaking quietly through His Word, through prayer, through wisdom, or through a gentle prompting in our spirit.

Today’s world is loud. Everybody has an opinion. Everybody has something to say. Social media never seems to run out of things to tell us. News is constantly coming at us. Notifications interrupt us. Even our phones seem to have more opinions than some people we know. If we’re constantly surrounded by noise, we may have difficulty recognizing the quiet voice of God.

That’s why we need intentional time in God’s Word and prayer. Before you fill your mind with everyone else’s opinions, give God the first opportunity to speak. Open your Bible before opening your social media. Pray before reacting. Ask God for wisdom before making a decision based solely on emotion.

Maybe you’re facing a decision right now and you’re waiting for God to give you some dramatic sign. Start with what He has already said in His Word. God doesn’t contradict His character or His Word. Sometimes the next step becomes clearer when we slow down enough to hear. God’s voice doesn’t always compete with the noise. Sometimes He simply waits for you to become quiet enough to listen.

3. God still has a purpose for you

Elijah told God that he was the only one left. He felt alone, discouraged, and finished. But God reminded him there were still 7,000 in Israel who had not bowed to Baal. Elijah wasn’t as alone as he thought, and his assignment wasn’t over.

God also gave Elijah specific instructions about what to do next. He wasn’t finished with him. In fact, God was already preparing the next season of ministry, including Elisha, who would eventually carry on the prophetic work.

This is such an important reminder for us. Discouragement has a way of making our world very small. When we’re tired, we can start believing things like, “Nobody understands,” “Nothing is changing,” “I’m the only one doing this,” or “What’s the point?”

But exhaustion can distort our perspective.

You may be in a season where you can’t see the fruit of what you’ve been doing. Maybe you’ve poured into someone’s life and haven’t seen the change you hoped for. Maybe you’ve prayed for something for years and you’re still waiting. Maybe you’ve served faithfully and wondered if anyone even notices. But always remember, God sees it.

Your assignment may look different in the next season, but that doesn’t mean your purpose is over. Sometimes God changes the assignment without changing the calling. Sometimes He introduces new people, new opportunities, and new ways for you to use what you’ve learned.

Don’t make a permanent decision based on a temporary season of exhaustion.

That is one of the most practical lessons we can take from Elijah’s story. When you’re tired, don’t assume you’re finished. When you’re discouraged, don’t assume God has forgotten you. When you can’t see what He’s doing, don’t assume He’s doing nothing. God may simply be preparing you for what’s next.

Today I want to encourage you, if you’re tired, God sees you. If you’re discouraged, God hasn’t abandoned you. If you’ve been wondering whether your faithfulness is making a difference, God hasn’t overlooked a single thing you’ve done in obedience to Him.

Elijah went from a mountain of victory to a place of deep discouragement, but God met him there. He fed him, allowed him to rest, spoke to him, reminded him that he wasn’t alone, and gave him his next assignment.

The same God who met Elijah under the broom tree knows exactly where you are today. You don’t have to pretend you’re stronger than you are. You don’t have to have everything figured out. You don’t have to carry tomorrow’s responsibilities today. Let God restore you. Let His Word speak louder than the noise around you. Let Him remind you that your story isn’t finished.

Your tiredness isn’t proof that you’ve failed. Your discouragement isn’t proof that God has left. Sometimes it’s simply a reminder that you’re human and you need your Father.

So take a breath. Get some rest. Get back into God’s presence. Listen for His voice. Then get up and take the next step.

There is still purpose ahead of you. There are still people to reach. There are still prayers to pray. There are still things God wants to do through your life. When you feel like you’ve got nothing left, remember Elijah. God is still able to meet you under the tree.

Today’s scripture reading: 1 Kings 19

1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 

2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 

3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”

5 Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 

6 Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. 

7 And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” 

8 So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.

9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

God’s Revelation to Elijah

11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 

12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

14 And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

15 Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. 

16 Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. 

17 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 

18 Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

19 So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. 

20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.”

And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”

21 So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant.

Journal:

• Where am I feeling physically, emotionally, or spiritually exhausted right now?
• What might God be inviting me to stop, release, or rest from?
• What voices have been louder in my life than God’s Word?
• What can I do this week to create more quiet space to hear God?
• Have I allowed a season of discouragement to convince me that my purpose is over?
• Where might God be asking me to take the next step instead of worrying about the entire journey?
• What is one thing I need to give to God today and trust Him to handle?

The show down

 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. ~ 1 Kings 18:38

 Imagine standing on a mountain with hundreds of people watching you, knowing that what happens next is going to determine who they believe is really God. No pressure, right? Elijah wasn’t walking into a quiet prayer closet where nobody would know if anything happened. He was standing on Mount Carmel in front of the prophets of Baal, King Ahab, and the people of Israel. The nation had been wavering between God and Baal, and Elijah challenged them to make a decision. It was time to stop trying to serve two masters.

What happened next is one of the most dramatic moments in Scripture. The prophets of Baal cried out, shouted, danced, and even cut themselves, but nothing happened. Then Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord, prepared the sacrifice, poured water over everything, and prayed a simple prayer. The reponse was that God answered with fire.

I love that Elijah didn’t need a complicated prayer or a performance. He didn’t have to convince God to show up. He simply trusted God to be God.

We may not be standing on Mount Carmel, but we live in a world that still has plenty of competing voices. Culture tells us what to believe, social media tells us what should matter, fear tells us what might happen, and our emotions sometimes have a very loud opinion about everything. We can find ourselves trying to keep one foot in God’s ways and another foot in the world’s ways. But 1 Kings 18 reminds us that there comes a time when we have to decide who we’re going to trust and who we’re going to follow.

Here are three truths in this chapter to consider what Elijah’s stand on Mount Carmel shows us about living boldly for God when the world around us is pulling in another direction.

1. You don’t have to follow the crowd to stand for God.

The people of Israel had watched the prophets of Baal cry out for hours, yet nothing happened. Elijah finally challenged the people with a question that still speaks to us today: “How long will you falter between two opinions?” The issue wasn’t that they didn’t know about God. They had simply become divided in their loyalty.

That can happen to us more easily than we’d like to admit. We may know what God’s Word says, but then we hear what everyone else is saying and begin wondering if God’s way is really the best way. Sometimes we don’t want to be the odd one out. We don’t want to be the person at work who won’t participate. We don’t want to be the Christian who says, “I don’t think that’s right.” We don’t want to be labeled, misunderstood, or left out. But following God has never required a majority vote.

There may be moments when everyone around you is making a decision that you know isn’t right for you. Maybe your friends are encouraging you to compromise your values or coworkers are participating in conversations that make you uncomfortable. Maybe your family doesn’t understand why you’re making a certain decision because you’re trying to follow God’s direction. You don’t have to be rude, judgmental, or self-righteous. You can simply stand firm.

Sometimes obedience looks less like making a big announcement and more like quietly saying, “That’s not something I’m going to participate in.” You don’t have to give a twenty-minute sermon every time you make a godly decision. Sometimes a simple no is enough.

2. Repair the altar before you ask for the fire.

Before Elijah prayed for fire, he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been broken down. That detail is easy to overlook, but it’s powerful. Elijah didn’t begin by asking God to do something spectacular. He began by restoring what had been neglected.

There are times when we’re asking God for fire while ignoring the broken places in our own lives. We want a breakthrough, but we haven’t forgiven someone. We want direction, but we haven’t obeyed what God already told us. We want to hear God’s voice, but we’re filling every quiet moment with noise. Sometimes the first step toward a fresh work of God isn’t asking Him to do something new. It’s allowing Him to restore the broken places.

Maybe your prayer life has become inconsistent. Start there. Maybe you’ve allowed offense to take root. Bring it to God. Maybe you’ve been so busy serving everyone else that your own time with God has become the leftover portion of your day. It’s time to rebuild that altar.

And don’t make this complicated. You don’t need a three-hour prayer routine and a perfectly organized spiritual life before you can come to God. Start with ten quiet minutes. Open your Bible. Talk honestly with God. Put your phone down for a few minutes. Turn off the constant noise and give Him your attention. You might discover that God has been speaking all along. You were just surrounded by enough noise that you couldn’t hear Him.

3. God can answer in ways that leave no doubt about who gets the glory.

Elijah poured water over the sacrifice three times. By the time he finished, the altar, sacrifice, wood, stones, and trench were soaked. From a human perspective, he had made an impossible situation even more impossible. After all that, then he prayed and God answered with fire.

The miracle wasn’t designed to make Elijah famous. It was designed to turn the hearts of the people back to God. When the people saw the fire fall, they cried out, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!”

That should always be the goal of what God does in our lives. When He answers a prayer, opens a door, provides financially, restores a relationship, gives us an opportunity, or brings us through something we couldn’t have walked through on our own, the glory belongs to Him.

Sometimes God allows circumstances to become so far beyond our ability that when the answer comes, we know it wasn’t because we figured everything out.

Maybe you’re facing something right now that feels impossible. You may have prayed about it so many times that you’re tempted to think nothing is happening. You may even be looking at the situation and thinking, “Lord, You realize this thing is soaked in water, right?” He knows, but your impossible situation doesn’t intimidate Him.

That doesn’t mean every prayer will be answered exactly the way we want or on our timetable. Elijah had already experienced a long season of drought before this moment. But when God’s appointed moment came, He showed Himself faithful. Our job isn’t to manufacture the fire. Our job is to remain faithful, rebuild what needs to be rebuilt, obey what God has said, and trust Him with the outcome.

Today I want to encourage you to stop measuring God’s presence by how loud the circumstances around you are. Elijah stood in the middle of a culture that had wandered from God, yet he wasn’t intimidated by the number of people standing against him. He knew who his God was.

You may feel like you’re standing alone in your workplace, your family, your friendships, or your community. You may feel like your convictions make you different. You may be praying about something that seems impossible and wondering when God is going to answer.

Keep standing and don’t give up! Don’t let the crowd decide your convictions. Don’t neglect the altar while asking for the fire and don’t forget who gets the glory when the breakthrough comes. You don’t have to manufacture a miracle, shout louder than everyone else and you don’t have to prove yourself. You simply need to know your God, trust His Word, obey what He says, and be willing to stand when it’s easier to sit down with the crowd.

And who knows? The very place where you feel like you’re standing alone may become the place where someone else sees the faithfulness of God and says, “The LORD, He is God!”

Today’s scripture reading: 1 Kings 18

1 And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.”

2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab; and there was a severe famine in Samaria. 

3 And Ahab had called Obadiah, who was in charge of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly. 

4 For so it was, while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water.) 

5 And Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go into the land to all the springs of water and to all the brooks; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so that we will not have to kill any livestock.” 

6 So they divided the land between them to explore it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

7 Now as Obadiah was on his way, suddenly Elijah met him; and he recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, “Is that you, my lord Elijah?”

8 And he answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’ ”

9 So he said, “How have I sinned, that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 

10 As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you. 

11 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here” ’! 

12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth. 

13 Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid one hundred men of the Lord’s prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water? 

14 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here.” ’ He will kill me!”

15 Then Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely present myself to him today.”

16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

17 Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”

18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals. 

19 Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. 

21 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. 

22 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. 

23 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. 

24 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.”

25 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.”

26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.

27 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 

28 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. 

29 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.

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. 

31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” 

32 Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 

33 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.” 

34 Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. 

35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.

36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. 

37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”

38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 

39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”

40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.

41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” 

42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, 

43 and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.”

So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.”

44 Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’ ”

45 Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. 

46 Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

Journal:

• Where am I tempted to follow the crowd instead of following God’s Word?
• Is there an area of my life where I need to rebuild my “altar,” spending more intentional time with God?
• What competing voices are making it difficult for me to hear God’s direction?
• What situation in my life currently feels impossible, and what would it look like for me to trust God with the outcome?
• When God answers my prayers, how can I make sure He receives the glory?
• What is one step of obedience I can take today, even if I don’t yet see the outcome?

He leads to provision

“Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” ~ 1 Kings 17:3-4

What if the provision you’re praying for is already waiting for you somewhere you haven’t gone yet? That’s exactly what we see in today’s scripture reading. Elijah was living in the middle of a drought, but God wasn’t asking Elijah to figure out how to create water, grow food, or somehow make his own way through the famine. God simply told him where to go. First, God sent him to the brook Cherith, where ravens brought him food. Later, when the brook dried up, God sent him to Zarephath, where a widow would provide for him. Elijah’s provision wasn’t just about what God was going to give him. It was connected to where God was telling him to go.

Think about that for a moment. If Elijah had decided to stay where he was, he could have spent his days asking, “God, where are You? Why aren’t You taking care of me?” Meanwhile, God’s answer would have been, “I already told you where to go.” The provision was at the brook. Then the provision was with the widow. Elijah had to move in obedience to experience what God had already arranged.

That makes this chapter especially relevent for us today. Sometimes we’re asking God to provide while He’s asking us to move. We’re praying for an opportunity, but we’re unwilling to step through the door. We’re asking for direction, but we’re comfortable staying where we are. We’re asking God to change our circumstances while He may be asking us to change our location, our routine, our attitude, our priorities, or simply take the next step of obedience.

Here are three important truths this chapter shows us about going where God says to go, trusting that His provision is there, and discovering that His provision often has a purpose far greater than ourselves.

1. Go where God tells you to go

God told Elijah, “Get to Zarephath.” Elijah couldn’t experience what God had prepared for him by staying where he was. The instruction came before the provision was visible.

I think this is one of the hardest parts of faith. We often want God to show us the provision first, then we’ll gladly obey. We’d like to see the paycheck before accepting the job, know how the ministry opportunity will work before saying yes, know how the relationship will turn out before taking the risk, and preferably have the entire five-year plan laid out in front of us.

But that’s not how God works. God told Elijah where to go, and Elijah had to trust Him enough to go there. The provision wasn’t waiting for Elijah to understand everything. It was waiting for Elijah’s obedience.

There may be something God has been nudging you to do that doesn’t make complete sense yet. Maybe He’s asking you to make a phone call, apply for something, step into a ministry opportunity, have a difficult conversation, start something new, or finally let go of something you’ve been holding onto. You may be thinking, “But God, I don’t know what’s going to happen.” You don’t have to know everything that’s going to happen. You need to know the One who told you to go.

This also includes very practical direction that God has given us as His people. He calls us to gather with other believers.  Weekend services aren’t simply another appointment on our calendar that we squeeze in if nothing else is going on. Weekly church service is an opportunity to come into God’s house, worship together, hear His Word, receive encouragement, pray, and be strengthened and receive the spiritual provision you need for the week ahead.

We live in a world that can drain us pretty quickly. By the time the weekend arrives, some of us need more than coffee. We need the presence of God and the encouragement of God’s people! God knows that we weren’t created to walk through life completely on our own. We need one another.

When we come together with other believers, we’re reminded of who God is, who we are, and what He’s called us to do. We can walk into a weekend service carrying the weight of the previous week and walk out reminded that it was never ours to carry to begin with.

Then we take what God has put in us and carry it into the next week. We receive encouragement so we can encourage someone else. We receive strength so we can strengthen someone else. We hear the Word so we can live the Word when we leave the building.

Sometimes the provision God has for you on the weekend isn’t something material. It may be the word you needed to hear before walking into a difficult conversation on Monday. It may be the encouragement that keeps you from giving up. It may be worship that lifts your eyes above your circumstances. It may be the person sitting beside you who reminds you that you’re not alone.

Make gathering with God’s people a priority. Don’t treat church like something you attend only when everything else works out. Go where God has provided a place for you to be strengthened. Come expecting to receive, but also come ready to give. Someone else may need the encouragement God has already placed in you.

2. The provision is often connected to the place of obedience

Elijah went to the brook, and there was water. God commanded ravens to feed him there. The key word is there. God didn’t simply say, “I’ll provide for you wherever you decide to hang out.” He directed Elijah to a specific place. Why couldn’t he send the ravens to wherever Elijah happened to be? The reason is because God was moving him in a certain direction so that he would end up where he could help others who were in need.

When the brook dried up, it could have been confusing for Elijah.  He had obeyed God, and now the very source God had used to sustain him was gone. But God wasn’t finished providing. He simply changed the location of the provision. God told Elijah to go to Zarephath, and there He had already commanded a widow to sustain him. Elijah went, and there she was.

This is so encouraging because it reminds us that God’s provision isn’t limited to one method. The brook wasn’t the provider. The widow wasn’t the provider. God was the Provider.

Sometimes we get attached to the way God provided yesterday. We think, “This is how God did it before, so this is how He has to do it again.” But God may be saying, “That was yesterday’s brook. I have another place for you today.”

Maybe you’ve been trying to make something work because it worked so well in a previous season. Maybe you’re waiting for a particular person to come through for you because they always have before. Maybe you’re frustrated because an opportunity has dried up. Don’t assume that the dried-up brook means the end of God’s provision. It just mean it’s time to tune in for new direction.

The application for daily life is simple, but it isn’t always easy. When something changes, instead of immediately panicking, ask, “God, where is the provision now?” If a job ends, ask where He wants you to go next. If a ministry assignment changes, ask what He wants you to do in this season. If a relationship changes, ask what He wants to teach you and where He wants you to invest your time. If one door closes, don’t spend all your energy staring at the closed door. Look for the next instruction.

Sometimes we’re standing beside a dry brook complaining about the lack of water when God is already pointing toward the next place of provision.

3. God’s provision for you may become provision for someone else

This might be my favorite part of this chapter because Elijah’s provision wasn’t just about Elijah.

When Elijah arrived at Zarephath, he encountered a widow gathering sticks. She was preparing what she believed would be the last meal for herself and her son. They were facing starvation. Yet God had connected Elijah’s need with this woman’s need.

At first, that might seem strange. Elijah needed provision, and God sent him to a woman who barely had anything. But God had a plan that was bigger than Elijah’s immediate need.

Through Elijah’s obedience, this widow and her son experienced God’s miraculous provision. Her flour didn’t run out, and her oil didn’t fail. What looked like the end became a testimony of God’s faithfulness.

Elijah went there because he needed to be sustained, but while he was there, God worked through him to bring hope to a family that was facing death.

That means sometimes the place where God is sending you isn’t just about what you’re going to receive. It’s about what God wants to do through you once you get there.

Maybe God is leading you into a new ministry because someone there needs encouragement. Maybe He’s asking you to reach out to someone because they’re closer to giving up than you realize. Maybe He’s placed you in a workplace, neighborhood, church, or relationship where your obedience will become an answer to someone else’s prayer.

You may think, “I’m the one who needs help.” God may say, “Yes, and I want to work with you to help someone else too.” That’s the beauty of God’s kingdom. His provision often flows through people. God takes care of us, and then He partners with us to take care of others. He strengthens us, and then He makes us a source of encouragement. He gives us hope, and then He puts someone in our path who needs the very hope He has given us.

So don’t underestimate the place God has sent you just because it doesn’t look impressive. Zarephath wasn’t exactly a glamorous destination. There wasn’t a five star hotel waiting for Elijah. There was a widow, a handful of flour, a little oil, and an impossible situation. Yet that was the place where God demonstrated His faithfulness.

Being God’s people in today’s world means we need to be willing to go where He sends us, even when the place doesn’t look like the answer we expected. Our world is full of people who are discouraged, fearful, overwhelmed, and wondering if there is any hope left. God may want to position us in their lives, not because we have everything figured out, but because we’ve experienced His faithfulness.

Maybe your current place feels inconvenient. Maybe you’re thinking, “God, surely You have something bigger planned than this.” Don’t be too quick to dismiss where you are. The person you’re sitting beside, working with, serving, raising, encouraging, or simply talking to may be part of the reason God has you there.

Elijah’s journey reminds us that provision isn’t always about getting more. Sometimes provision is about getting where God wants us to be so He can provide for us and work through us at the same time.

Today I want to encourage you, go where God’s provision is. Don’t let fear keep you standing in a place God has told you to leave. Don’t let uncertainty convince you that God has forgotten you. If the brook has dried up, listen for His next instruction. If He’s telling you to get up and go, get up and go.

And when God calls you to gather with His people, go there too. You may be going because you need to be filled, but don’t forget that someone else may need what God has put inside of you. The encouragement you receive on Sunday may be exactly what equips you to encourage someone on Monday. The strength you receive in God’s house is the very strength you carry into someone else’s difficult situation. The provision is already be waiting.

There may be a brook you haven’t reached yet. There may be a person God has already prepared to help you. There may be someone who desperately needs the encouragement, hope, wisdom, or faith God has placed inside of you. You may think you’re going to Zarephath because you need something, only to discover that God has sent you there because someone else needs something too. Trust the Provider. Follow His direction. Take the next step. You don’t have to know how everything will work out. Elijah didn’t. The widow didn’t. But God did and when God tells you to go, you can trust that His provision will meet you there.

Today’s scripture reading: 1 Kings 17

1 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”

2 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 

3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 

4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”

5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 

6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 

7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 

9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” 

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” 

11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

12 So she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. 

14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’ ”

15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. 

16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.

17 Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him. 

18 So she said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?”

19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 

20 Then he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?” 

21 And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” 

22 Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.

23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives!”

24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth.”

Journal:

• Is there an area of my life where I’m asking God to provide, but He may actually be asking me to move?
• Am I making gathering with other believers a priority so I can receive what God wants to give me and be strengthened to serve others throughout the week?
• What is the next step I believe God is asking me to take?
• Has a “brook” in my life dried up recently? How might God be using that change to lead me somewhere new?
• Where has God provided for me in unexpected ways in the past?
• Who might God be asking me to encourage, serve, or bring hope to in this current season?

Status Quo

_{Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all who were before him. ~ 1 Kings 16:25}

 Have you ever noticed how quickly something can become normal? The first time you see it, you think, “That’s strange,” or “I can’t believe people are okay with that.” But after seeing it over and over, it doesn’t seem quite so shocking anymore. We see it in the way people casually use foul language, the way disrespect has become common in relationships, the way people can openly mock biblical values, or the way constant complaining and negativity has become an accepted and even popular part of everyday conversation. We can even get so used to everyone being distracted by their phones that nobody thinks twice about sitting in a room full of people while everyone is looking at a screen. What once caught our attention can eventually become something we barely notice. That’s the danger of normalization. What once bothered us  eventually becomes the status quo.

 That’s exactly what makes today’s scripture reading such a sobering chapter. One king after another takes the throne, and the spiritual condition of Israel continues to decline. Nadab is killed. Baasha takes over. His son Elah is killed. Zimri takes the throne and then dies. Omri becomes king, and Scripture says he did more evil than all who were before him. Then Ahab arrives, and somehow the downward spiral goes even farther. It’s almost as though every king is competing for the title of, “I can make this worse.”

But beneath all the political chaos is a spiritual warning that still stands true today. The people of God were living in a culture where sin had become increasingly accepted. Idolatry was no longer an occasional problem. It was becoming part of the environment.

We may not have golden statues sitting in our living rooms, but idolatry hasn’t disappeared. Anything that takes the place God should have in our hearts can become an idol. Success, money, relationships, approval, comfort, entertainment, influence, political opinions, careers, even our own plans can slowly become more important to us than God.

So how do we remain God’s people when the culture around us keeps moving farther away from Him?

Below are three points from this chapter that remind us of this truth: We aren’t called to follow the direction of the culture. We’re called to follow the direction and Word of God.

1. Don’t Confuse Popular With Right

The kings in 1 Kings 16 seemed to keep following the same pattern. One king did evil, the next king followed him, and then the next king went even farther. Eventually, what should have been shocking became normal.

That’s something we need to guard against today because culture can be very persuasive. If enough people say something is acceptable, eventually we can begin to wonder if God’s Word has changed. But God’s truth doesn’t change because society changes.

Just because something is popular doesn’t make it right. Just because it’s trending doesn’t mean it’s trustworthy. Just because everyone is saying it doesn’t mean we need to repeat it.

We live in a world where we’re exposed to thousands of opinions every day. Social media, television, podcasts, advertisements, conversations, news, entertainment, and even casual comments can shape the way we think. Sometimes we’re taking in so many voices that we don’t even realize how much they’re influencing us.

Here’s the important question, which voice has the greatest authority in your life? God’s Word must have the final say and be the standard with no negotiation.

Maybe you’re being pressured at work to participate in something you know isn’t right. Maybe your friends are making choices that don’t honor God, and you feel like the odd one out. Maybe you’re hearing messages about marriage, sexuality, money, success, or identity that directly contradict Scripture.

You don’t have to be argumentative and you don’t have to attack everyone who disagrees with you. You simply need to know what you believe and why you believe it.

Before you accept a message simply because you hear it everywhere, take it to God’s Word. Ask, “Does this agree with Scripture?” If it doesn’t, you don’t need to debate the entire internet. You can simply choose God’s truth. That is the only way to truly find freedom. You don’t have to respond to every opinion you encounter. Some things don’t need a comment, they need a prayer.

2. Small Compromises Can Become Big Problems

The progression in this chapter is striking. The kings didn’t just wake up one morning and decide, “Today I’m going to destroy the spiritual foundation of the nation.” Instead, compromise continued until it became a downward spiral.

That’s how compromise usually works. It doesn’t show up wearing a name tag that says, “Hello, I’m going to cause major problems in your life.” It usually shows up looking harmless. It’s just one conversation, one little compromise, thinking everyone does it. Or it starts with thinking “God knows my heart.” Or “I’ll deal with it later.” And later turns into years of destruction.

A small crack in a foundation may not look like much at first, but ignoring it doesn’t make it disappear. The same is true spiritually. A little resentment can become bitterness. A little dishonesty can become a lifestyle. A little neglect of God’s Word can become spiritual dryness. A little compromise in a relationship can eventually pull your heart somewhere you never intended to go. That’s why it is so important to pay attention to the little things.

Ask yourself, “Is there something I’ve been excusing that God has been asking me to deal with?”

Maybe it’s an attitude you’ve justified, a relationship that consistently pulls you away from God. Maybe it’s what you’re watching or listening to. Maybe it’s the way you’re speaking about someone. Maybe it’s your spending, your priorities, your thought life, or the amount of time you’re giving to everything else compared to the time you’re giving God.

Don’t wait until something becomes a crisis before you respond to God’s gentle correction. When the Holy Spirit puts His finger on something, He’s not trying to condemn you. He’s trying to protect you getting in too deep. Sometimes the most powerful prayer you can pray is, “Lord, show me anything in me that doesn’t belong.” Then, of course, be prepared for Him to actually get rid of it from your life.

3. You Can Be Faithful Even When Your Culture Isn’t

By the time Ahab became the king, Israel’s spiritual condition was in terrible shape. Scripture tells us that Ahab did more evil than all who were before him, and he married Jezebel and began serving and worshiping the false god, Baal.

But here’s something important for us to remember. God’s people were still God’s people. The culture around them didn’t change who God was.

That’s good news for us because we can sometimes become discouraged by the condition of our world. We look at what is happening in families, schools, workplaces, media, politics, and society, and we can feel overwhelmed.

But God hasn’t asked you to fix the whole world.  He’s asked you to be faithful where He has placed you. You can be faithful in your home. You can be faithful in your marriage. You can be faithful in your friendships. You can be faithful at work. You can be faithful in your church. You can be faithful with your words, your money, your time, your relationships, and your private life.

You may not be able to influence thousands of people, but you can influence the people sitting around your dinner table. You can be the person who prays when everyone else complains. You can be the person who tells the truth when everyone else is exaggerating. You can be the person who forgives when everyone else says, “Cut them off.” You can be the person who brings peace into a room instead of adding more chaos. And you can be the person who says, “Let’s see what God’s Word says about this.” That’s where your greatest influence is.

Ask God to show you where your faithfulness can make a difference today. Maybe someone at work needs encouragement or your child needs to hear you pray. Maybe a friend needs someone to point them back to Jesus or maybe someone needs to see that you can disagree with them and still love them.

You don’t have to shout to shine. A lamp doesn’t argue with the darkness. It simply gives light.

What kind of influence Are you leaving? This chapter is a reminder that leadership matters, choices matter, and influence matters.

Every king left something behind. Some left destruction. Some left compromise. Their decisions affected more than themselves. Their choices affected a nation and generations beyond them.

The same principle applies to us. Our lives are preaching something every day. Our children are watching. Our friends are watching. Our coworkers are watching. The people we serve alongside are watching. We may never know who is paying attention, but be sure that somebody is.

That doesn’t mean you have to live under pressure to be perfect. It means you should live intentionally. When you get it wrong, repent. When you fail, get back up. When God corrects, listen. When culture pushes toward compromise, choose God’s truth. When you’re tempted to follow the crowd, remember whose child you are. That’s what it means to live as God’s people in today’s world.

Today I want to encourage you to keep choosing God, even when choosing God makes you different from those around you. Don’t allow the culture around you to slowly become the voice inside you. Guard your heart. Guard your home. Guard what you watch, what you listen to, what you celebrate, and what you allow to shape your thinking.

You don’t have to live afraid of the world. You don’t have to spend your days angry about everything that’s wrong and you don’t have to win every argument. You simply need to remain faithful.

There will always be pressure to compromise. There will always be voices telling you that God’s standards are outdated. There will always be people who tell you that you’re taking your faith too seriously.

That’s okay. It is way better to be considered old fashioned by the world than become unfamiliar with the voice of God. So keep your heart tender. Keep your Bible open. Keep listening to and following the Holy Spirit. Keep choosing obedience. Keep loving people. Keep standing for truth. And when the world around you seems to be getting darker, don’t become consumed by the darkness.

Be the light God has called you to be. Your faithfulness is impacting the world around you more than you realize.

Today’s Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 16

1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying: 

2 “Inasmuch as I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made My people Israel sin, to provoke Me to anger with their sins, 

3 surely I will take away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 

4 The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Baasha and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the fields.”

5 Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 

6 So Baasha rested with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah. Then Elah his son reigned in his place.

7 And also the word of the Lord came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he killed them.

8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel, and reigned two years in Tirzah. 

9 Now his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him as he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, steward of his house in Tirzah. 

10 And Zimri went in and struck him and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

11 Then it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he was seated on his throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave him one male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends. 

12 Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, 

13 for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, by which they had sinned and by which they had made Israel sin, in provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols.

14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri had reigned in Tirzah seven days. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. 

16 Now the people who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired and also has killed the king.” So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. 

17 Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon, and they besieged Tirzah. 

18 And it happened, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house down upon himself with fire, and died, 

19 because of the sins which he had committed in doing evil in the sight of the Lord, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he had committed to make Israel sin.

20Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the treason he committed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

21 Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. 

22 But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri reigned. 

23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel, and reigned twelve years. Six years he reigned in Tirzah.

 24 And he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; then he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, Samaria, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill. 

25 Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all who were before him. 

26 For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols.

27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

28 So Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. Then Ahab his son reigned in his place.

29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 

30 Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. 

31 And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. 

32 Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. 

33 And Ahab made a wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 

34 In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the Lord, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.

Journal:

• What voices are influencing my thinking the most right now?
• Is there anything I have begun accepting simply because it has become normal in our culture?
• Is there a small compromise in my life that God may be asking me to address?
• What is one area where I feel pressure to compromise my biblical convictions?
• Who has God placed in my life that may be watching how I live out my faith?
• What is one practical way I can be a light for Jesus today?

I am Barabbas

 _{But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. ~ Mark 15:11}

Imagine standing in that crowd of accusers that are demanding punishment even death. You know you’re guilty and your sentence is deserved. You hear the crowd demanding your release, and then you realize what’s happening. Someone else is being led away in your place.

You walk out of that prison, free.  Free to go home, free to live your life and free to make a change because another man paid the price for your crime.  He died on a cross that you were just hours away from dying on yourself. That’s what happened to Barabbas, but it is also what happened for each one of us today.

This may be one of the most vivid pictures of the Gospel in all of Scripture. Barabbas wasn’t released because someone discovered he was innocent. He wasn’t released because the charges were dropped. He wasn’t released because he had suddenly become a better person. He was released because Jesus took his place. Jesus took his punishment and he took ours too.

Barabbas was guilty and everyone knew it. He was a rebel and a criminal who had been sentenced to die. But Jesus, the spotless and sinless Son of God, was condemned while the guilty man walked free. The innocent took the place of the guilty. The truth is, I am Barabbas and you are Barabbas.

Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We can’t talk our way out of that. We can’t work hard enough to erase it. We can’t be good enough to earn our way into God’s presence. We needed someone to take our place. That is exactly what Jesus did on the cross.

He wasn’t forced to the cross. He wasn’t caught in a situation He couldn’t escape. He willingly laid down His life. He chose the cross. He chose obedience. He chose mercy. He chose our judgement.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

What a great exchange! Jesus took what belonged to us so that we could receive what belonged to Him. He took our sin and our judgement, and He gave us His righteousness. He took our punishment, and He gave us peace with God. He took our shame, and He gave us a new identity.

He didn’t simply wipe the slate clean. He gave us a completely new beginning. And here’s where this becomes personal. Sometimes we understand what Jesus did for us, but we haven’t fully learned how to live like people who have been set free.

So how do we respond to such amazing grace? Below are four practical ways we can begin walking in the freedom Jesus purchased for us.

1. Receive the gift of grace

Barabbas walked out of that prison a free man. His sentence was canceled, and his chains were gone.

We don’t know what Barabbas did with that freedom. Scripture doesn’t tell us whether he changed, followed Jesus, or went back to his old ways. But we do know that he was given something he didn’t deserve. So were we.

Sometimes we spend years trying to earn God’s approval when He’s already made a way for us to receive His grace. You don’t have to perform for God’s love. You don’t have to convince Him that you’re worthy. You don’t have to spend the rest of your life paying for something Jesus already paid for.

Start here:

• Thank Jesus specifically for taking your place.
• When guilt comes, remind yourself of what Scripture says about forgiveness.
• Stop rehearsing sins that you’ve already confessed and surrendered to God.
• Begin your day with gratitude instead of starting your morning by making a mental list of everything that’s wrong.

You might simply pray, “Lord Jesus, thank You for taking my place. Thank You for Your grace. I receive Your forgiveness, and I choose to walk in the freedom You purchased for me.”

2. Walk through the open door

Jesus didn’t just remove the penalty of sin. His sacrifice opened the way for us to have a restored relationship with God. You can come to Him anytime.

When you’re happy, come to Him. When you’re confused, come to Him. When you’re angry, come to Him. When you don’t know what to do, come to Him. When you’ve messed up again, come to Him. God isn’t standing at the door with His arms crossed saying, “Seriously? Again?” No, He’s always inviting you closer.

Start here:

• Set aside a few quiet minutes each morning to spend with God.
• Read a short passage of Scripture and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what He wants you to see.
• Talk to God throughout your day instead of waiting until you have a formal prayer time.
• When you need direction, ask Him before asking everyone else.

Psalm 119:105 reminds us that God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. You don’t have to see the entire road. You just need enough light for the next step.

3. Leave the chains behind

Imagine Barabbas walking out of prison and then deciding to go back and sit in his old cell. It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Yet sometimes we do exactly that spiritually. Jesus sets us free, but we keep returning to the same guilt, shame, habits, fear, and patterns that once held us captive.

Jesus didn’t die so you could spend your life living like you’re still condemned. You have a new identity. You have a new beginning. You have access to God’s presence. You have the Holy Spirit to help you live differently.

Freedom doesn’t mean you never struggle again. It means you don’t have to remain a prisoner to what once controlled you.

Start here:

• Identify one area where you continue to feel trapped.
• Bring it honestly before God.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to help you recognize the thoughts and behaviors that keep pulling you backward.
• Find a trusted, godly person who can pray with you and encourage you.
• Take one practical step toward change.

Don’t try to change everything overnight. Sometimes the biggest victory is simply refusing to go back to the cell.

4. Live like someone who was rescued

The greatest response to mercy is gratitude expressed through the way we live. Jesus gave His life for us, so our lives should point people toward Him. We can love because He first loved us. We can forgive because we’ve been forgiven. We can serve because He served us. We can show grace because we’ve received grace.

We can tell our story because our story isn’t about how good we were. It’s about how good He is. Your testimony doesn’t have to be dramatic to be powerful. Sometimes simply saying, “I know what I was like before Jesus, and I know who I’m becoming because of Him,” is enough to make someone wonder what you’ve discovered.

Start here:

• Look for someone who needs encouragement.
• Forgive someone you’ve been holding onto.
• Serve someone without expecting recognition.
• Share with someone what Jesus has done in your life.
• Ask God each morning, “Who can I love today?”

Let your life become a living “thank you.” The Gospel is beautifully simple. We were guilty. Jesus was innocent. We deserved the cross. Jesus took it. We deserved judgment. Jesus offered mercy. We were separated from God. Jesus opened the way home. We were Barabbas and Jesus took our place. That truth should never become ordinary to us.

Every time we hear the Gospel, every time we take communion, every time we worship, every time we open God’s Word, we have another opportunity to remember the miraculous exchange that took place for us. Jesus didn’t just save you from something. He saved you for something.

He saved you to know Him, walk with Him, become more like Him, love others, serve His purposes, and carry His message into a world that desperately needs hope.

Today I want to encourage you to remember that you are Barabbas. Not as a reminder of who you used to be, but as a reminder of the amazing grace you’ve received. You were guilty, but Jesus took your place. You were separated, but Jesus opened the way to the Father. You carried shame, but Jesus offered forgiveness and a new identity. Don’t go back and sit in a prison cell Jesus already opened. Walk through the door. Receive His grace. Leave the chains behind. Live like someone who has been rescued. Let your life become a living testimony of the One who loved you enough to take your place. You don’t have to earn what Jesus has already given you. You simply have to receive it, walk in it, and let His love change the way you live.

Today’s Scripture Reading: Mark 15:6-15

6 Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. 

7 And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion. 

8 Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them. 

9 But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” 

10 For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.

11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. 

12 Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?”

13 So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!”

14 Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?”

But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!”

15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.

Journal:

• What does it personally mean to me that Jesus took my place?
• Is there an area where I’m still trying to earn God’s love or forgiveness instead of receiving His grace?
• What “chains” from my past am I tempted to continue carrying even though Jesus has set me free?
• What would it look like for me to live like someone who has truly been rescued?
• Who is one person I can intentionally love, encourage, forgive, or serve this week?
• What part of my story could I share with someone who needs to know that Jesus can change a life?