A Desire Stirred Up

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. 1 Kings 21:25

It wasn't all Ahab's fault, nor does all the blame fall on Jezebel, but when they got together, oh the horror! We have a desire to be known as the best at something. Reading our verse for today, that isn't the right answer. To go down in biblical history in the Hall of Sinful Infamy is probably not what Ahab meant to happen when he married Jezebel, and yet the consequences of that sin and its wages came to Ahab's palace. If you have a picture in your mind of a long line of the worst sorts of sin coming into the home of Ahab and Jezebel, each carrying its bag of consequences and satchel of death, then you have a good picture of this household. As God cared for His people in the north kingdom of Israel, He sent none other than Elijah to do battle for the souls of those God loved. 

Was Elijah as mighty as Samson to stand before the evil thrones in the fullness of human strength? No, Elijah acted just like one of us. When he got scared, he ran. When he got down, he moped. We know of course that it was the strength of Almighty God facing those two evil rulers and their prophets, Elijah was simply God's servant. As evil rulers seem to gain power by the day in our time, we can trust in that same power to raise up His servants in these dark times. We trust in the Lord!

May His name ever be praised!

Bucky