Confidently Strong

So I might be off the promise kick for real this time

This Sunday, I went up for prayer and my pastor prayed for my self-esteem again. I knew it had nothing to do with why current relationship, but it had everything to do with what I heard God say to me a month ago. I never really said what happened when I spoke to my parents about what God said to me.

Just a bit of background--my parents don't attend the same type of ministry I go to. I go to a COGIC church, where we learn from all parts of the Bible, even parts that may make us uncomfortable. My parents go to the church of Christ. Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with the church of Christ. It's just the specific church they go to feels as if you don't attend their church you're going to hell. They don't believe in any part of the 5 fold ministry even though it is clearly laid out in the Bible. They also teach that God doesn't speak to people anymore. But how can you have a relationship with someone that doesn't speak to you? You see where I'm going with this? Growing up, I was never taught to have a relationship with God. We went to church out of formality. That was it.

Fast forward about 9 years...I've been attending a pentecostal church for about 8 or 9 years. My parents are still attending the same church. I've grown tremendously in my faith and my relationship with God while my parents have been stagnant for the most part. Imagine trying to explain that God gave me very specific instructions to someone who doesn't even believe that God speaks. When I told my father, he told me that I needed to see a psychiatrist.

Why am I explaining all of this? That incident broke down my identity and my confidence in the God that I serve. As a child (yes, I'm an adult, but I'm still their child), I find myself looking for their approval and acceptance. The minute they didn't approve, I doubted myself because they're my parents.

As a christians, the goal is to have an unshakeable relationship with God. We all know somebody that is stuck on stupid for their significant other. No matter what anybody says, they won't leave that person alone and they hang on to their every word. Essentially, that's how we should be for God. No matter what anybody says---we know that He is real.

When I first started writing this, I thought about Elijah in 1 King 18

1 Kings 18:18-24 The Message (MSG)

17-19 The moment Ahab saw Elijah he said, “So it’s you, old troublemaker!”

“It’s not I who has caused trouble in Israel,” said Elijah, “but you and your government—you’ve dumped God’s ways and commands and run off after the local gods, the Baals. Here’s what I want you to do: Assemble everyone in Israel at Mount Carmel. And make sure that the special pets of Jezebel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of the local gods, the Baals, and the four hundred prophets of the whore goddess Asherah, are there.”

20 So Ahab summoned everyone in Israel, particularly the prophets, to Mount Carmel.

21 Elijah challenged the people: “How long are you going to sit on the fence? If God is the real God, follow him; if it’s Baal, follow him. Make up your minds!”

Nobody said a word; nobody made a move.

22-24 Then Elijah said, “I’m the only prophet of God left in Israel; and there are 450 prophets of Baal. Let the Baal prophets bring up two oxen; let them pick one, butcher it, and lay it out on an altar on firewood—but don’t ignite it. I’ll take the other ox, cut it up, and lay it on the wood. But neither will I light the fire. Then you pray to your gods and I’ll pray to God. The god who answers with fire will prove to be, in fact, God.”

All the people agreed: “A good plan—do it!”

So let's break this down for just a moment. By this time in the Bible, God has already delivered the Israelites from Egypt. They knew God did this, but yet they were still on the fence. Why? How could you not fully believe in God after everything that had to happen for them to be delivered from Egypt? It wasn't like it was a big coincidence that they got out of Egypt. To experience something like the 10 plagues and witnessing the parting of the Red Sea within that short time frame would be more than enough for me. It looks like the Israelites may have gotten caught up in what they saw. Elijah was the last standing prophet God, but there was 450 prophets of Baal. Maybe they thought that if there were more representatives of a god then that meant that was the real one. Who knows? Either way they agreed to this bet.

Moving on...

1 Kings 18:25-35 The Message (MSG)

25 Elijah told the Baal prophets, “Choose your ox and prepare it. You go first, you’re the majority. Then pray to your god, but don’t light the fire.”

26 So they took the ox he had given them, prepared it for the altar, then prayed to Baal. They prayed all morning long, “O Baal, answer us!” But nothing happened—not so much as a whisper of breeze. Desperate, they jumped and stomped on the altar they had made.

27-28 By noon, Elijah had started making fun of them, taunting, “Call a little louder—he is a god, after all. Maybe he’s off meditating somewhere or other, or maybe he’s gotten involved in a project, or maybe he’s on vacation. You don’t suppose he’s overslept, do you, and needs to be waked up?” They prayed louder and louder, cutting themselves with swords and knives—a ritual common to them—until they were covered with blood.

29 This went on until well past noon. They used every religious trick and strategy they knew to make something happen on the altar, but nothing happened—not so much as a whisper, not a flicker of response.

30-35 Then Elijah told the people, “Enough of that—it’s my turn. Gather around.” And they gathered. He then put the altar back together for by now it was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Jacob, the same Jacob to whom God had said, “From now on your name is Israel.” He built the stones into the altar in honor of God. Then Elijah dug a fairly wide trench around the altar. He laid firewood on the altar, cut up the ox, put it on the wood, and said, “Fill four buckets with water and drench both the ox and the firewood.” Then he said, “Do it again,” and they did it. Then he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. The altar was drenched and the trench was filled with water.

If you continue to look at the text, you'll see Elijah was so confident in who God is that he even begin to tease them. He allowed this to go on for hours and hours, and then he added insult to injury. He wet the wood that was supposed to be set on fire. Now if you know anything about fires, water puts out fire (duh). Elijah got so boastful in God that he let the wood sit in water and he still knew that God would set it on fire. So now Elijah is saying not only is He able to do something as simple as lighting the wood on fire, but He can do the impossible.

The reason Elijah is just that dude to me is because he just didn't care. He had no doubt or fear of what God could do. Even when it is vastly unpopular. He stood alone against at least 450 people. There were 450 prophets of Baal, but not every believer is a prophet (catch that later lol). But lowkey, Elijah kinda cheated sorta kinda not really. You know people really only make bets when they know they're gonna win. Okay so maybe Elijah didn't cheat and if he did, everybody cheats. Elijah already knew he was going to win. He wasn't even shaken a little bit. We should all aim to be like him. No matter what, we trust God is able.