Post by Deleted on May 25, 2021 16:35:11 GMT -5
Shift into Neutral By: Mike Wittmer
Click here for the audio message.
And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
1 Kings 19:12
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Kings 19:9–12, 15–18
The man ahead of me at the carwash was on a mission. He purposefully strode to the back of his pickup and removed the hitch, so it wouldn’t snag the high-powered rolling brushes. He paid the attendant then pulled onto the automated track—where he left his truck in drive. The attendant shouted after him, “Neutral! Neutral!” but the man’s windows were up and he couldn’t hear. He zipped through the car wash in four seconds flat. His truck barely got wet.
Elijah was on a mission too. He was busy serving God in big ways. He had just defeated the prophets of Baal in a supernatural showdown, which left him drained (see 1 Kings 18:16–39). He needed time in neutral. God brought Elijah to Mount Horeb, where He had appeared to Moses long before. Once again God shook the mountain. But He wasn’t in the rock-shattering wind, earthquake, or raging fire. Instead, God came to Elijah in a gentle whisper. “When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out” to meet God (1 Kings 19:13).
You and I are on a mission. We put our lives in drive to accomplish big things for our Savior. But if we never shift down to neutral, we can zip through life and miss the outpouring of His Spirit. God whispers, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Neutral! Neutral!
Reflect & Pray
How do you slow down to spend time with your Father? Why is time in neutral necessary for driven people?
Father, I am still because You are God.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Elijah, whose name means “my God is Yahweh,” was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 17–19) during the twenty-two-year reign of Ahab, who together with his wife, Jezebel, led the Israelites to worship Baal and murdered God’s prophets (1 Kings 16:29–34; 18:4; 19:10). Elijah’s perception that he was “the only one left” (19:10, 14) was incorrect, for he had ignored the one hundred prophets that Obadiah had hidden (18:4). God later revealed that there were seven thousand who were faithful to Him (19:18). Paul commented on Elijah’s experience in Romans 11:1–5, when he said there’s a faithful “remnant chosen by grace.”
K.T. Sim
1 Kings 19:9-12
King James Version
9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks 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.
1 Kings 19:15-18
King James Version
15 And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
17 And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
Click here for the audio message.
And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
1 Kings 19:12
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Kings 19:9–12, 15–18
The man ahead of me at the carwash was on a mission. He purposefully strode to the back of his pickup and removed the hitch, so it wouldn’t snag the high-powered rolling brushes. He paid the attendant then pulled onto the automated track—where he left his truck in drive. The attendant shouted after him, “Neutral! Neutral!” but the man’s windows were up and he couldn’t hear. He zipped through the car wash in four seconds flat. His truck barely got wet.
Elijah was on a mission too. He was busy serving God in big ways. He had just defeated the prophets of Baal in a supernatural showdown, which left him drained (see 1 Kings 18:16–39). He needed time in neutral. God brought Elijah to Mount Horeb, where He had appeared to Moses long before. Once again God shook the mountain. But He wasn’t in the rock-shattering wind, earthquake, or raging fire. Instead, God came to Elijah in a gentle whisper. “When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out” to meet God (1 Kings 19:13).
You and I are on a mission. We put our lives in drive to accomplish big things for our Savior. But if we never shift down to neutral, we can zip through life and miss the outpouring of His Spirit. God whispers, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Neutral! Neutral!
Reflect & Pray
How do you slow down to spend time with your Father? Why is time in neutral necessary for driven people?
Father, I am still because You are God.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Elijah, whose name means “my God is Yahweh,” was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 17–19) during the twenty-two-year reign of Ahab, who together with his wife, Jezebel, led the Israelites to worship Baal and murdered God’s prophets (1 Kings 16:29–34; 18:4; 19:10). Elijah’s perception that he was “the only one left” (19:10, 14) was incorrect, for he had ignored the one hundred prophets that Obadiah had hidden (18:4). God later revealed that there were seven thousand who were faithful to Him (19:18). Paul commented on Elijah’s experience in Romans 11:1–5, when he said there’s a faithful “remnant chosen by grace.”
K.T. Sim
1 Kings 19:9-12
King James Version
9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks 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.
1 Kings 19:15-18
King James Version
15 And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
17 And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.