Mars Hill Fellowship

MESSAGE |

Elijah - When God asks for the Impossible!

SERIES |

Bible Stories Pt. 2

SCRIPTURE |

1 Kings 17:1-24

SPEAKER |

Pastor Joseph Ardayfio

KEY THEME |

The prophet Elijah experienced many miracles in his life but he had to learn how to trust God when it seemed like God was asking for the impossible!

1) Trusting and believing in God requires obedience to his instructions.

a.  Faith requires us to take action even when the benefits are not immediately apparent.

2) When we feel like God has asked us for the impossible, stay close to God to hear His instructions.

a.  When God asked Elijah to speak to King Ahab, the instructions seemed impossible but Elijah had to trust that the same Lord that commanded him to speak, would also make provision in his life.

b.  We have to resist the urge to become frantic when GOD asks us to do something that seems impossible.  Instead, we must run to God’s presence to hear from Him what He wants to say. [1 Cor 10:12-13].

3) Trusting and believing in God doesn’t always immediately bring fruit that we can see naturally.

a.  As the prophet Elijah obeyed the Lord’s instructions, the place of provision dried up and it looked like the decision to trust God wasn’t bearing fruit.  But God was working even when Elijah didn’t know it.  When the brook dried up, the Lord had already commanded the widow woman to provide for the prophet.

b. Faith is not used just to get things, but faith is necessary to deny ourselves of comfort when the Lord asks for us to make sacrifices for the glory of God. 

4) We are often challenged during the walk of faith to examine, “Did God really say…,” but don’t short change what God is doing just to avoid the fear of embarrassment.

a.  Elijah could of aborted what God was doing in the life of the widow woman because he was embarrassed that his presence caused the widow’s son to die, but instead he looked to God to work through the situation.

b. Examining what God has said doesn’t mean that we have a lack of faith, but prematurely aborting the mission means that our faith is not truly developed.

Scripture Index:

Deuteronomy 11:16-17

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

1 Kings 16:29-33

1 Kings 17:1-24

1 Kings 18:10

1 Corinthians 10:12-13 

thoughts for further study

1)     How do you respond when you feel that God has asked you for the impossible?  How can your response hinder what God is doing?

2)     How has trusting in God, despite the presentation of challenging earthly circumstances, paid off in the long run? 

3)     Why is it important to examine whether God has truly spoken to us?  How can we do this without aborting what God is doing in our lives.