God's Resources

The Lord said to him, Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal …

1 Kings 19:15-18a

While Elijah was despairing of the future, God was planning for it. There was a new scourge raised up in Syria to punish Israel. There was a new king in Israel to purify the land. There was to be a new prophet to proclaim the Word of God in greater power than Elijah had, with double the spirit of Elijah resting upon him, plus 7,000 men throughout the land, who were faithful to God and never bowed the knee to Baal. Elijah was saying, I, only I, am left. How little he knew of God's resources. And how little we reckon on the might of God when we think that the circumstances of our present day are more than He can handle, or the circumstances of your life.

God moves with undeviating purpose throughout history, both nationally and individually. The ultimate cure for despondency is to reckon on His adequacy whether you can see it or not. That is the great lesson here. Some years ago, I read of an old Navajo Indian who was very wealthy. He had made a lot of money by the discovery of oil on his property, but he kept all his money in the bank in town. Every now and then, he would come in off his ranch, into the bank, and he would come in to the president of the bank and he would say to him, Rain all gone, streams dry up, grass all gone, sheep all die. The banker knew exactly what to do. He would go into the vault and he would get out great stacks of silver dollars and stack them up on the table and invite the old man to come in and sit and look at them and say, This is your money. And the old Navajo would go in and sit down in front of this money and eye it and finger it and count it and feel of it. After a bit, he would get up and go out to the banker and say, Rain coming now, plenty of grass, plenty of water, sheep all fine. And back he would go to the ranch. Now, that old Indian was quite wrong about his dependence upon that money as his ultimate resource — it could have faded away as rapidly as the grass … but one thing he had learned was that the cure for a dejected spirit is to take account again of your resources.

This is the great lesson of Elijah's, that when we come to the place where things seem to be going bad and nothing seems to be happening — those times that press great trials upon our spirit — when things seem to be going quite counter to what we expect, we are to lift our eyes from the situation unto the Savior and reckon upon his resources, remembering this account of Elijah: that God accomplishes His purposes and cannot be stopped.

Father, what a reminder this is to my feeble faith, to rest upon you. Teach me in times when nothing seems to be happening to look to you and reckon on your faithfulness.