What Will Cause Your Call to Become a Burden?
by Evangelist Dan Martin
Dan Martin is a local church evangelist.
If God has placed a call upon your life to serve Him in full time ministry, you are blessed. Paul said it’s something to be thankful for. “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;” (I Timothy 1:12) But if we are not careful, that great call can end up being a burden.
It’s kind of like they say about marriage after the honeymoon has worn off. “What do you mean by that?” I mean you are still married, but you begin to take each other for granted, and feel you know too much about each other You take for granted all the positive things that made you love that person, yet allow yourself to focus on the faults and negatives. In the same way, when the new wears off in the ministry, you might begin to look at yourself and the call of God on your life, and take for granted what a blessing and privilege it is, looking only at the negative and ignoring all the positive.
In I Kings 19, we are going to talk about one of the greatest men in the Word of God, the mighty prophet, Elijah. In I Kings 17, Elijah faces the situation with Ahab, prays, and God stops the heavens and there is no rain. Verses 8-16 tell the story of that widow of Zarephath and how God met her need. Verses 17-24 document the healing of that widow’s son.
First Kings 18 begins with Elijah meeting Ahab, tells about the famine, and how he calls him out. King Ahab says, “You’ve caused trouble here.” He said, “No, I haven’t caused trouble. You caused the trouble.” The man of God stood up and called him out. Then we know what a mighty and powerful story with the prophets of Baal, and Elijah calling fire down from Heaven, and God consumes the sacrifice and the 450 prophets of Baal are slain that day.
The very last verse of chapter 18 says this, “And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah;...” You’ve heard that said. We’ve said it about other people. “Man, God’s hand is on that person.” Then sometimes we notice those same people, just shortly thereafter, it’s gone. What does it go on to say? It says, “...and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.”
In chapter 19, something drastic happens here. Elijah plunges off the mountaintop of being used by God and having the hand of the Lord upon him. He plunges off of that mountaintop to a valley of despair. Verses 1-3 says, “And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.” What happened? Problems and persecution arose. Trouble comes along in his life, caused by an evil woman that threatened him because he was doing what God wanted him to do. For some of you that sounds familiar. Right, preacher? You’ve got situations that have blindsided you.
I want us to be prepared for those valley times, for those situations when the ministry isn’t all victory and, “Glory hallelujahs!” We have to stand firm in those times of storms and darkness, when the devil is coming after us vehemently, in an attempt to make us want to quit. I want to give you just a few simple thoughts on what can cause your call to end up being a burden.
#1. DON’T LISTEN TO THE HEATHEN. The first one is this right here. When you start listening to what the heathen have to say, it’s going to take you down. You’d better be careful. Everywhere you go, I don’t care where you serve the Lord, there will be Sanballats and Tobiahs, folks speaking against you and opposing you. There will always be Jezebels threatening you. There is always going to be a Diotrephes and Alexander, trying to stop you and trying to turn folks against you. There will always be those people who oppose, ridicule, discourage, and are determined to be a thorn in the flesh to God’s servant.
But can I remind you that greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world? Thank God, if He’s called you, you’ve got the power of God to go forth and accomplish. So many times we take our eyes off of that. The call of God will never be fulfilled in any of our lives without adversity. It’s not going to happen without adversity. Troubles and struggles and battles are going to come along. I’m just trying to stir your heart to make you think. Looking at my life as a boy, watching my dad beat my mother and watching my mom being beat up and bloodied with broken bones and not go to a hospital. I can remember my dad trying to burn the house down on all of us and another time when he came after me with a deer rifle. He was going to kill me. I remember the adversity that God was bringing me through so that one day He could call me to preach. I needed to understand there would be some adversity out there in the ministry, too. There is adversity no matter where we go. Don’t you give up and walk away from God and His call on your life just because of some adversity.
Proverbs 24:10 says, “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.” I don’t stand up here in my strength. I stand here in His strength today. Everyone of us, if we are where we ought to be, that’s what it’s got to be. It’s not our strength. It’s His strength. If we are not standing in His strength, it’s going to be small strength. We don’t have enough strength on our own. It says in II Timothy 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” If you are going to live for Him, you will face it. It’s going to happen.
It says in Psalm 34:19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” What a promise to cling to. No matter what comes into my life -- it doesn’t matter what comes my way -- I have a God that is able to deliver me out of it all! That word adversity means affliction, anguish, or distress. There isn’t a preacher here that couldn’t get up and give a testimony about what you’ve had to face and what you had to go through. Thank God you are still here. Thank God you haven’t given up to this point, but has your heart begun to slip a little bit? Have you gotten a little hard or cold toward the ministry God has given you? Has your call become more of a burden than a privilege?
#2. DON’T COWER OR RUN BECAUSE OF OPPOSITION. The second thing we see in verse three says, “And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.” The second thing that causes your call to become a burden is when you start cowering or running from it. When God puts a call on your life, it’s not time to back up from it. It was 12 years from the time that the Lord called me to the time I surrendered and began. I’m just being honest with you, being transparent, there was a lot of that. Don’t cower from the call of God on your life, because that is the power of God on your life. Do what God wants you to do.
The Bible says, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” (Romans 11:29) When God calls you to do something, He isn’t going to give up on you. He wants you to follow through. He wants you to submit and yield to Him. You’ve been called to serve the King of kings. Don’t ever lose sight of that. You can run, but you can’t hide. He knows right where you’re at. He isn’t going to give up on you either, just like the next few verses show us. You may quit; take your ball and go home, but God is not going to give up on you. He is still going to be there for you.
Look at verses 4-8. “But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.” God didn’t give up on him. When Elijah was at his lowest point, the Lord sent him just what he needed so that he could be strengthened and encouraged to go forward again.
God does the same for you and I too. Sure, the hard times come. Yes, the despair comes, but He is always there to provide for us and meet our need. He is always there to lift us back up again. Thank God for that. Knowing who we are, knowing what we go through. I think about two times He fed him and provided a supernatural touch, just to get him to the place that he’d recognize where he was at.
Remember the story of Peter in John 21 when Jesus came to him and showed Himself? Peter went back to fishing, ready to quit. Jesus had already appeared to him two times before that. Two other chances, but He didn’t give up. Jesus came back again. God is not going to give up on you. You may try to quit or give up on your call, but the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. He is not going to let go of it. You can run, but you are not going to hide. If you run, you will be miserable. Realize that, once God has placed His call on your life, it’s not going to change.
#3. DON’T STOP WALKING BY FAITH. The third thing we see is what happens when we get to the place where our call becomes a burden is when we stop walking by faith and start walking by sight. That happens so often. It’s so easy to fall into that trap. “Hey, Elijah, can I remind you about when you first came on the scene, when God called you and told you to go and tell Ahab there wasn’t going to be any rain? You went down there by the brook and I had some ravens come and feed you.”
Again He reminds him by doing that again. He had an angel come and feed him here. “Just get back to walking by faith. Just trust Me and believe Me. Quit getting your eyes on everything else and walking by sight.”
“There is this wicked, evil woman who’s got a lot of power. She is coming after me.” Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. I’m saying, get back to walking by faith. Stop walking by sight. It’s not dependent upon what you can do, but what God can do.
When I first went into the ministry, I had 15 years in the fire department. When God opened the door to go to camp, I gave my notice to the chief. He was floored because I was about ready to become a captain. I was a lieutenant. He said, “What are you going to do?”
I said, “I’m going in the ministry into evangelism. I’m going to go work with a camp ministry.”
He said, “Okay, can I ask you what are they going to pay you?”
Anybody that knows the camp, there is no salary. I said, “Nothing.”
He said, “Nothing? Man, you’ve got a wife and five kids.”
I said, “Yes, I know that, but I know what God is doing in my life and I know what He wants me to do and I’m just going to trust Him.”
Sometimes it is easy in the beginning, but then it gets a little more difficult. The craziest thing about it was, though the guys in the department that I worked with all said, “Man, if this is what you feel like God wants you to do, we know you are going to make it.” The Lord had allowed me to see four or five of those men saved the years that I was in there. They encouraged me.
But at church, the folks were saying, “Brother, are you sure about this?” Brother Anderson slapped me on the side of the face and said, “Wake up, son. What are you talking about?”
I said, “I know it’s what God wants.” Why do we undo in doubt what we began in faith? I remember going down there. I told everybody, “They’ve got a house that we can move in.” Some of my wife’s family really questioned everything, of course. They had a house prepared for us. By the time I got down there, the house wasn’t there. Plans fell through. All the nay-sayers came back again. “See, it’s not God’s will for you to go.” Within two years, the Lord allowed us to buy a 79 acre farm down there. I mean quit beginning to walk by sight again and just trust God and live by faith. You couldn’t figure it out to begin with, and you’re not going to be able to figure it out now, either.
I remember the first day I went down. I had taken about half of my pension out so that I could get started. It was gone within six months. I used some of that money to buy a trailer because I wanted to take my family with me travelling. The only problem was I needed something to pull the trailer. I’m thinking, “Well, I need to get a loan.” I went to the bank, sat down and said, “I need to get a loan.” They put me in with this loan officer. She said, “Fill this out here, Mr. Martin.” I filled it all out. When it said salary, I put zero. I handed it back to her and she looked at that and said, “Mr. Martin, you didn’t read this right. You didn’t put down what you make.”
I said, “No, I did put down what I make.”
She said, “How are you living?”
I said, “God is taking care of us.”
She said, “Well, sir, how do you expect us to loan you money, when you don’t make any money?”
I said, “I need a truck to pull this trailer with.”
She said, “I’ll run it through, but it’s not going to be approved.”
She ran it through and about 30 minutes later she called me and said, “It wasn’t approved. Sorry, sir.”
I said, “That’s all right. I know God is going to work it out.” It was not two days later somebody came to me and said, “Hey, I’m looking to get a different truck. I know you are looking for a truck. I’ll sell this one to you on payments.” God provided a truck to pull that trailer with.
We can all tell stories about living by faith, but why is it that we slip back into walking by sight so often? We give up on the bus ministry. We give up on our Sunday school class. We give up in the nursery. We give up on our call to preach, or we walk away. We get so bitter against things that are all around about us and we start walking by sight again. God, help us. We have to keep walking by faith all the way through.
#4. DON’T GET YOUR EYES ON YOURSELF AND WHAT YOU DESERVE. What’s really dangerous is when you start focusing on who you think you are and what you think you deserve and you stop focusing on the only One that deserves anything. Verse 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?” God knew where he was at. He was trying to get him to wake up spiritually. If God could just wake some of us up spiritually, maybe He could do some greater things.
“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.” He repeated that again down in verse 14. “And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because 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.” He is talking about “God, You don’t understand how much I’ve been jealous for You and what I’ve tried to do for you. God, You don’t understand how much I don’t deserve this.” Does that sound familiar? “God, how could You let these things come to pass? How could You let these things happen?” We’d better never forget who we are and where we came from, and that God has just given us the privilege to be used to accomplish what He is going to do one way or the other anyway. He just wants to give you and I an opportunity to be a part of it.
I think about Esther. What did Mordecai say to her? “Go ahead, but if you ain’t going to do it, God is going to raise somebody else up.” Go ahead. You want to walk away from your call? You want to walk away from the work that God has called you to, He’ll just raise somebody else up. There ain’t a one of us any better than anybody else. Don’t get into that pity party mode thinking you deserve better.
Galatians 6:3 says, “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” I’ve always wondered in amazement at I Corinthians 10:12-13, the way it is put in there. Verse 13 says, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” But verse 12 says, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Pride is killing the work of God. Who do we think we are? If only we could get back to seeing God for who He is, and seeing how worthless we are. There was a day that we thought that. There was a day when we looked at ourselves and said, “God, how could You use someone like me? How could you call me?” Now we think we deserve that and better. We think we ought to have more. All we deserve is our neck broke and to be burning in Hell. That’s exactly what we deserve.
By the way, you and I are not the only ones left. “I’m the only one left.” No, you are not the only one standing for God. You are not the only one suffering through hardships. There are people that go through a lot worse than what you and I go through. If we’d hear the story of some of the men that sit here today, if we’d pull a screen down and show the lives of many different individuals and what they’ve been through, it would cause us to say, “Oh God, thank You for being so good to me.” I mean, just the privilege to be an American!. “Well, look where we are at.” Thank God, you’ve had the privilege to be raised here. We have no call to get self-centered and feeling sorry for ourselves, thinking we deserve better. We don’t even deserve to have a call of God and His blessing and protection at all, but we have been blessed with it, and we had better thank Him for it.
#5. Don’t start complaining about the people God gave you to minister to and with. You are in danger when you start complaining about the people God has called you to minister to because they won’t listen and you stop contending and interceding for them. God called you to them for a purpose. It’s His will to work in you and through you. Remember it’s not that they aren’t listening to you; they are not listening to God. Don’t look at it that they are against me. They are saying no to God. We know that back in I Samuel. “And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” (I Samuel 8:7) It’s not against you; they are just not listening to the Lord. How can you make somebody do something that the Holy Spirit of God can’t put in their heart to make them do? It’s not your voice. It’s not you, but it is God they are not listening to. Again, don’t forget where you came from. There have been days in your life and my life that we’ve battled through the same thing.
For years, I worked in the bus ministry. I think about trudging out there and spending the time on the route and visiting, soulwinning, trying to get people to come and they tell you, “I’ll be there tomorrow. I’ll be there tomorrow.” I can’t imagine what pastors go through every week. “I’ll be there tomorrow. You can come by and pick me up.” It looks like a ghost town when you go to pick them up. You say, “Why is it like this?” Because God has called you to just do what He wants you to do and He’ll take care of the rest.
The problem of the people that God has called you to does not change on the mountaintop or in the valley. It’s you and I. What do you mean? Their problems are only magnified when we are in the valley. They don’t change. You have the same problems when you are on the mountaintop as when you get in the valley. When you get in the valley, everything negative becomes magnified. You see what it says there in Elijah’s prayer. “...for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword;...” God, this people that you’ve called me to, they are so wicked.
I think of another man that was thrown into the same kind of situation. His name was Moses. What did he do? God said, “I’m going to destroy them.” Moses said, “No, wait God, wait. God, please. They are Your people. Don’t do that.” What ever happened to the heart of a servant of God like that? Contending and begging for the people that He has given to you and pleading with God to do something. I wonder how it would change our bus ministries, how it would change our Sunday school classes if people would begin to really contend for the people that God has placed under them, what would happen?
#6. Don’t stop listening to God’s voice, and listen to your own heart instead. Verses 9-10 says, “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? 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.” What are you doing here Elijah? I’m here to complain.
Verses 11-13 says, “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: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?” Did you get it? Do you understand what I’m trying to get you to wake up to here Elijah?
Here he goes again. “And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because 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.” The next thing is when we stop our ears to the voice of God and start listening to our own heart. He was determined that he was going to listen to what he thought in his heart rather than listening to the voice of the Almighty.
This is what I picture. All those things come to pass and God causes that great wind; He causes the earthquake, and then fire. God causes all those things to happen. He is trying to show him something. “What are you looking for? Are you looking for signs in the heavens or something spectacular, Elijah? What are you doing? Just listen to the still small voice.”
What did he do? He wrapped his face in his mantle as if to say, “God, no, I don’t want to hear that. Let me tell you what I think.” God, help us to get back to listening to the voice of Almighty God, when He is trying to get us to do His will with our lives.
The Bible tells us in Proverbs 28:26, “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool:...” God, listen. You don’t understand. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) Stop listening to your own heart and start listening to God’s voice. We have got to get back to walking with God. We say, “We are called to be in the ministry.” Don’t you ever forget that it is from God that you get the call. It’s from God that you get the power. It’s from God that you get the strength to be able to go forward and accomplish what He wants you to. It’s not anything to do with you and I; it’s all about Him. When we stop walking with Him, we cut the lifeline off. I beg you, friend, don’t shut God’s voice out.
#7. Don’t refuse to humble self and just obey the Lord. What will cause your call to become a burden? When you just refuse to humble yourself and obey the Lord. Notice the last thing he said here after Elijah cried out, “...I have been very jealous for the Lord God...” Look at verses 15-16. “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: 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.” “Okay, Elijah, you don’t want to humble yourself. You don’t want to listen to Me. I’ve done what I can do. So here, just go do these three things.”
Elijah didn’t do those things. He didn’t fulfill those last three things God told him to do, well, he did one half-heartedly. You get the picture when he comes by and throws his mantle on Elisha and walks away. Wait a minute. Elisha knew what he was doing. Elisha had been walking with God, so he knew what was happening. He said, “Just wait. Let me go back.” He said, “What have I done to thee?” Elijah keeps on going. God gave him three things to do and he never fulfilled them. Those were only fulfilled in II Kings chapter 8 and 9. He didn’t fulfill them.
Go over to II Kings 21. This is powerful I believe. The next time we see Elijah. I’m not trying to shed anything on Elijah or take away from the prophet of God and what God did with that man in those days, but I think God put it in here for us to learn. God is still going to use Elijah. God still wants to use you and me, if we just get back where we need to be.
Notice what he says here in I Kings 21:17. “And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,...” This is the first time He had spoken to him since that incident. “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it. And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel also spake the Lord, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat. But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.” (I Kings 21:18-29)
Why did God single Elijah out to do that? I think He was just trying to show him, “Elijah, if this wicked old king would humble himself and I would honor him, what would I do with you if you would just humble yourself?” Elijah is still on the scene. Why did God have enough mercy to allow this? This is maybe five to seven years later after God said, “Go do these three things and it’s done.” Why is he still there? Because God is still longsuffering and God is still giving him a chance to be able to get back where he needed to be.
You say, “Well, there is another passage there where he calls fire down from Heaven.” Yeah, over there in II Kings 1. I believe he was moping on the mountain there. I believe he was up there just “Okay, God, just take me on home.” When they came and he did what the Lord told him to do and the fire came down from Heaven and everything, I think God was still trying to show him, “You know what? The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. The power is still there, Elijah, if you just humble yourself.”
Don’t get me wrong. I know I couldn’t touch the hem of Elijah’s garment, but remember, friend, God called you not for your glory, but for His, not for your pleasure, but for His. Valleys can create a victim mentality for the Christian and for preachers, for all of God’s servants. Valleys can affect the voices that you listen to – Jezebel, your own heart, or the words of God, or how you approach the voice of God. Valleys will affect your vision of yourself, of other people, and of your God.
I’m asking you today, servant of the Lord. Has your call become a burden? Would to God we would humble ourselves and get back to remembering who we were and what God did for us, the privilege He has allowed us just to be a servant of the Most High God.
It’s kind of like they say about marriage after the honeymoon has worn off. “What do you mean by that?” I mean you are still married, but you begin to take each other for granted, and feel you know too much about each other You take for granted all the positive things that made you love that person, yet allow yourself to focus on the faults and negatives. In the same way, when the new wears off in the ministry, you might begin to look at yourself and the call of God on your life, and take for granted what a blessing and privilege it is, looking only at the negative and ignoring all the positive.
In I Kings 19, we are going to talk about one of the greatest men in the Word of God, the mighty prophet, Elijah. In I Kings 17, Elijah faces the situation with Ahab, prays, and God stops the heavens and there is no rain. Verses 8-16 tell the story of that widow of Zarephath and how God met her need. Verses 17-24 document the healing of that widow’s son.
First Kings 18 begins with Elijah meeting Ahab, tells about the famine, and how he calls him out. King Ahab says, “You’ve caused trouble here.” He said, “No, I haven’t caused trouble. You caused the trouble.” The man of God stood up and called him out. Then we know what a mighty and powerful story with the prophets of Baal, and Elijah calling fire down from Heaven, and God consumes the sacrifice and the 450 prophets of Baal are slain that day.
The very last verse of chapter 18 says this, “And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah;...” You’ve heard that said. We’ve said it about other people. “Man, God’s hand is on that person.” Then sometimes we notice those same people, just shortly thereafter, it’s gone. What does it go on to say? It says, “...and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.”
In chapter 19, something drastic happens here. Elijah plunges off the mountaintop of being used by God and having the hand of the Lord upon him. He plunges off of that mountaintop to a valley of despair. Verses 1-3 says, “And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.” What happened? Problems and persecution arose. Trouble comes along in his life, caused by an evil woman that threatened him because he was doing what God wanted him to do. For some of you that sounds familiar. Right, preacher? You’ve got situations that have blindsided you.
I want us to be prepared for those valley times, for those situations when the ministry isn’t all victory and, “Glory hallelujahs!” We have to stand firm in those times of storms and darkness, when the devil is coming after us vehemently, in an attempt to make us want to quit. I want to give you just a few simple thoughts on what can cause your call to end up being a burden.
#1. DON’T LISTEN TO THE HEATHEN. The first one is this right here. When you start listening to what the heathen have to say, it’s going to take you down. You’d better be careful. Everywhere you go, I don’t care where you serve the Lord, there will be Sanballats and Tobiahs, folks speaking against you and opposing you. There will always be Jezebels threatening you. There is always going to be a Diotrephes and Alexander, trying to stop you and trying to turn folks against you. There will always be those people who oppose, ridicule, discourage, and are determined to be a thorn in the flesh to God’s servant.
But can I remind you that greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world? Thank God, if He’s called you, you’ve got the power of God to go forth and accomplish. So many times we take our eyes off of that. The call of God will never be fulfilled in any of our lives without adversity. It’s not going to happen without adversity. Troubles and struggles and battles are going to come along. I’m just trying to stir your heart to make you think. Looking at my life as a boy, watching my dad beat my mother and watching my mom being beat up and bloodied with broken bones and not go to a hospital. I can remember my dad trying to burn the house down on all of us and another time when he came after me with a deer rifle. He was going to kill me. I remember the adversity that God was bringing me through so that one day He could call me to preach. I needed to understand there would be some adversity out there in the ministry, too. There is adversity no matter where we go. Don’t you give up and walk away from God and His call on your life just because of some adversity.
Proverbs 24:10 says, “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.” I don’t stand up here in my strength. I stand here in His strength today. Everyone of us, if we are where we ought to be, that’s what it’s got to be. It’s not our strength. It’s His strength. If we are not standing in His strength, it’s going to be small strength. We don’t have enough strength on our own. It says in II Timothy 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” If you are going to live for Him, you will face it. It’s going to happen.
It says in Psalm 34:19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” What a promise to cling to. No matter what comes into my life -- it doesn’t matter what comes my way -- I have a God that is able to deliver me out of it all! That word adversity means affliction, anguish, or distress. There isn’t a preacher here that couldn’t get up and give a testimony about what you’ve had to face and what you had to go through. Thank God you are still here. Thank God you haven’t given up to this point, but has your heart begun to slip a little bit? Have you gotten a little hard or cold toward the ministry God has given you? Has your call become more of a burden than a privilege?
#2. DON’T COWER OR RUN BECAUSE OF OPPOSITION. The second thing we see in verse three says, “And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.” The second thing that causes your call to become a burden is when you start cowering or running from it. When God puts a call on your life, it’s not time to back up from it. It was 12 years from the time that the Lord called me to the time I surrendered and began. I’m just being honest with you, being transparent, there was a lot of that. Don’t cower from the call of God on your life, because that is the power of God on your life. Do what God wants you to do.
The Bible says, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” (Romans 11:29) When God calls you to do something, He isn’t going to give up on you. He wants you to follow through. He wants you to submit and yield to Him. You’ve been called to serve the King of kings. Don’t ever lose sight of that. You can run, but you can’t hide. He knows right where you’re at. He isn’t going to give up on you either, just like the next few verses show us. You may quit; take your ball and go home, but God is not going to give up on you. He is still going to be there for you.
Look at verses 4-8. “But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.” God didn’t give up on him. When Elijah was at his lowest point, the Lord sent him just what he needed so that he could be strengthened and encouraged to go forward again.
God does the same for you and I too. Sure, the hard times come. Yes, the despair comes, but He is always there to provide for us and meet our need. He is always there to lift us back up again. Thank God for that. Knowing who we are, knowing what we go through. I think about two times He fed him and provided a supernatural touch, just to get him to the place that he’d recognize where he was at.
Remember the story of Peter in John 21 when Jesus came to him and showed Himself? Peter went back to fishing, ready to quit. Jesus had already appeared to him two times before that. Two other chances, but He didn’t give up. Jesus came back again. God is not going to give up on you. You may try to quit or give up on your call, but the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. He is not going to let go of it. You can run, but you are not going to hide. If you run, you will be miserable. Realize that, once God has placed His call on your life, it’s not going to change.
#3. DON’T STOP WALKING BY FAITH. The third thing we see is what happens when we get to the place where our call becomes a burden is when we stop walking by faith and start walking by sight. That happens so often. It’s so easy to fall into that trap. “Hey, Elijah, can I remind you about when you first came on the scene, when God called you and told you to go and tell Ahab there wasn’t going to be any rain? You went down there by the brook and I had some ravens come and feed you.”
Again He reminds him by doing that again. He had an angel come and feed him here. “Just get back to walking by faith. Just trust Me and believe Me. Quit getting your eyes on everything else and walking by sight.”
“There is this wicked, evil woman who’s got a lot of power. She is coming after me.” Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. I’m saying, get back to walking by faith. Stop walking by sight. It’s not dependent upon what you can do, but what God can do.
When I first went into the ministry, I had 15 years in the fire department. When God opened the door to go to camp, I gave my notice to the chief. He was floored because I was about ready to become a captain. I was a lieutenant. He said, “What are you going to do?”
I said, “I’m going in the ministry into evangelism. I’m going to go work with a camp ministry.”
He said, “Okay, can I ask you what are they going to pay you?”
Anybody that knows the camp, there is no salary. I said, “Nothing.”
He said, “Nothing? Man, you’ve got a wife and five kids.”
I said, “Yes, I know that, but I know what God is doing in my life and I know what He wants me to do and I’m just going to trust Him.”
Sometimes it is easy in the beginning, but then it gets a little more difficult. The craziest thing about it was, though the guys in the department that I worked with all said, “Man, if this is what you feel like God wants you to do, we know you are going to make it.” The Lord had allowed me to see four or five of those men saved the years that I was in there. They encouraged me.
But at church, the folks were saying, “Brother, are you sure about this?” Brother Anderson slapped me on the side of the face and said, “Wake up, son. What are you talking about?”
I said, “I know it’s what God wants.” Why do we undo in doubt what we began in faith? I remember going down there. I told everybody, “They’ve got a house that we can move in.” Some of my wife’s family really questioned everything, of course. They had a house prepared for us. By the time I got down there, the house wasn’t there. Plans fell through. All the nay-sayers came back again. “See, it’s not God’s will for you to go.” Within two years, the Lord allowed us to buy a 79 acre farm down there. I mean quit beginning to walk by sight again and just trust God and live by faith. You couldn’t figure it out to begin with, and you’re not going to be able to figure it out now, either.
I remember the first day I went down. I had taken about half of my pension out so that I could get started. It was gone within six months. I used some of that money to buy a trailer because I wanted to take my family with me travelling. The only problem was I needed something to pull the trailer. I’m thinking, “Well, I need to get a loan.” I went to the bank, sat down and said, “I need to get a loan.” They put me in with this loan officer. She said, “Fill this out here, Mr. Martin.” I filled it all out. When it said salary, I put zero. I handed it back to her and she looked at that and said, “Mr. Martin, you didn’t read this right. You didn’t put down what you make.”
I said, “No, I did put down what I make.”
She said, “How are you living?”
I said, “God is taking care of us.”
She said, “Well, sir, how do you expect us to loan you money, when you don’t make any money?”
I said, “I need a truck to pull this trailer with.”
She said, “I’ll run it through, but it’s not going to be approved.”
She ran it through and about 30 minutes later she called me and said, “It wasn’t approved. Sorry, sir.”
I said, “That’s all right. I know God is going to work it out.” It was not two days later somebody came to me and said, “Hey, I’m looking to get a different truck. I know you are looking for a truck. I’ll sell this one to you on payments.” God provided a truck to pull that trailer with.
We can all tell stories about living by faith, but why is it that we slip back into walking by sight so often? We give up on the bus ministry. We give up on our Sunday school class. We give up in the nursery. We give up on our call to preach, or we walk away. We get so bitter against things that are all around about us and we start walking by sight again. God, help us. We have to keep walking by faith all the way through.
#4. DON’T GET YOUR EYES ON YOURSELF AND WHAT YOU DESERVE. What’s really dangerous is when you start focusing on who you think you are and what you think you deserve and you stop focusing on the only One that deserves anything. Verse 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?” God knew where he was at. He was trying to get him to wake up spiritually. If God could just wake some of us up spiritually, maybe He could do some greater things.
“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.” He repeated that again down in verse 14. “And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because 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.” He is talking about “God, You don’t understand how much I’ve been jealous for You and what I’ve tried to do for you. God, You don’t understand how much I don’t deserve this.” Does that sound familiar? “God, how could You let these things come to pass? How could You let these things happen?” We’d better never forget who we are and where we came from, and that God has just given us the privilege to be used to accomplish what He is going to do one way or the other anyway. He just wants to give you and I an opportunity to be a part of it.
I think about Esther. What did Mordecai say to her? “Go ahead, but if you ain’t going to do it, God is going to raise somebody else up.” Go ahead. You want to walk away from your call? You want to walk away from the work that God has called you to, He’ll just raise somebody else up. There ain’t a one of us any better than anybody else. Don’t get into that pity party mode thinking you deserve better.
Galatians 6:3 says, “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” I’ve always wondered in amazement at I Corinthians 10:12-13, the way it is put in there. Verse 13 says, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” But verse 12 says, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Pride is killing the work of God. Who do we think we are? If only we could get back to seeing God for who He is, and seeing how worthless we are. There was a day that we thought that. There was a day when we looked at ourselves and said, “God, how could You use someone like me? How could you call me?” Now we think we deserve that and better. We think we ought to have more. All we deserve is our neck broke and to be burning in Hell. That’s exactly what we deserve.
By the way, you and I are not the only ones left. “I’m the only one left.” No, you are not the only one standing for God. You are not the only one suffering through hardships. There are people that go through a lot worse than what you and I go through. If we’d hear the story of some of the men that sit here today, if we’d pull a screen down and show the lives of many different individuals and what they’ve been through, it would cause us to say, “Oh God, thank You for being so good to me.” I mean, just the privilege to be an American!. “Well, look where we are at.” Thank God, you’ve had the privilege to be raised here. We have no call to get self-centered and feeling sorry for ourselves, thinking we deserve better. We don’t even deserve to have a call of God and His blessing and protection at all, but we have been blessed with it, and we had better thank Him for it.
#5. Don’t start complaining about the people God gave you to minister to and with. You are in danger when you start complaining about the people God has called you to minister to because they won’t listen and you stop contending and interceding for them. God called you to them for a purpose. It’s His will to work in you and through you. Remember it’s not that they aren’t listening to you; they are not listening to God. Don’t look at it that they are against me. They are saying no to God. We know that back in I Samuel. “And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” (I Samuel 8:7) It’s not against you; they are just not listening to the Lord. How can you make somebody do something that the Holy Spirit of God can’t put in their heart to make them do? It’s not your voice. It’s not you, but it is God they are not listening to. Again, don’t forget where you came from. There have been days in your life and my life that we’ve battled through the same thing.
For years, I worked in the bus ministry. I think about trudging out there and spending the time on the route and visiting, soulwinning, trying to get people to come and they tell you, “I’ll be there tomorrow. I’ll be there tomorrow.” I can’t imagine what pastors go through every week. “I’ll be there tomorrow. You can come by and pick me up.” It looks like a ghost town when you go to pick them up. You say, “Why is it like this?” Because God has called you to just do what He wants you to do and He’ll take care of the rest.
The problem of the people that God has called you to does not change on the mountaintop or in the valley. It’s you and I. What do you mean? Their problems are only magnified when we are in the valley. They don’t change. You have the same problems when you are on the mountaintop as when you get in the valley. When you get in the valley, everything negative becomes magnified. You see what it says there in Elijah’s prayer. “...for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword;...” God, this people that you’ve called me to, they are so wicked.
I think of another man that was thrown into the same kind of situation. His name was Moses. What did he do? God said, “I’m going to destroy them.” Moses said, “No, wait God, wait. God, please. They are Your people. Don’t do that.” What ever happened to the heart of a servant of God like that? Contending and begging for the people that He has given to you and pleading with God to do something. I wonder how it would change our bus ministries, how it would change our Sunday school classes if people would begin to really contend for the people that God has placed under them, what would happen?
#6. Don’t stop listening to God’s voice, and listen to your own heart instead. Verses 9-10 says, “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? 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.” What are you doing here Elijah? I’m here to complain.
Verses 11-13 says, “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: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?” Did you get it? Do you understand what I’m trying to get you to wake up to here Elijah?
Here he goes again. “And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because 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.” The next thing is when we stop our ears to the voice of God and start listening to our own heart. He was determined that he was going to listen to what he thought in his heart rather than listening to the voice of the Almighty.
This is what I picture. All those things come to pass and God causes that great wind; He causes the earthquake, and then fire. God causes all those things to happen. He is trying to show him something. “What are you looking for? Are you looking for signs in the heavens or something spectacular, Elijah? What are you doing? Just listen to the still small voice.”
What did he do? He wrapped his face in his mantle as if to say, “God, no, I don’t want to hear that. Let me tell you what I think.” God, help us to get back to listening to the voice of Almighty God, when He is trying to get us to do His will with our lives.
The Bible tells us in Proverbs 28:26, “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool:...” God, listen. You don’t understand. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) Stop listening to your own heart and start listening to God’s voice. We have got to get back to walking with God. We say, “We are called to be in the ministry.” Don’t you ever forget that it is from God that you get the call. It’s from God that you get the power. It’s from God that you get the strength to be able to go forward and accomplish what He wants you to. It’s not anything to do with you and I; it’s all about Him. When we stop walking with Him, we cut the lifeline off. I beg you, friend, don’t shut God’s voice out.
#7. Don’t refuse to humble self and just obey the Lord. What will cause your call to become a burden? When you just refuse to humble yourself and obey the Lord. Notice the last thing he said here after Elijah cried out, “...I have been very jealous for the Lord God...” Look at verses 15-16. “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: 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.” “Okay, Elijah, you don’t want to humble yourself. You don’t want to listen to Me. I’ve done what I can do. So here, just go do these three things.”
Elijah didn’t do those things. He didn’t fulfill those last three things God told him to do, well, he did one half-heartedly. You get the picture when he comes by and throws his mantle on Elisha and walks away. Wait a minute. Elisha knew what he was doing. Elisha had been walking with God, so he knew what was happening. He said, “Just wait. Let me go back.” He said, “What have I done to thee?” Elijah keeps on going. God gave him three things to do and he never fulfilled them. Those were only fulfilled in II Kings chapter 8 and 9. He didn’t fulfill them.
Go over to II Kings 21. This is powerful I believe. The next time we see Elijah. I’m not trying to shed anything on Elijah or take away from the prophet of God and what God did with that man in those days, but I think God put it in here for us to learn. God is still going to use Elijah. God still wants to use you and me, if we just get back where we need to be.
Notice what he says here in I Kings 21:17. “And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,...” This is the first time He had spoken to him since that incident. “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it. And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel also spake the Lord, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat. But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.” (I Kings 21:18-29)
Why did God single Elijah out to do that? I think He was just trying to show him, “Elijah, if this wicked old king would humble himself and I would honor him, what would I do with you if you would just humble yourself?” Elijah is still on the scene. Why did God have enough mercy to allow this? This is maybe five to seven years later after God said, “Go do these three things and it’s done.” Why is he still there? Because God is still longsuffering and God is still giving him a chance to be able to get back where he needed to be.
You say, “Well, there is another passage there where he calls fire down from Heaven.” Yeah, over there in II Kings 1. I believe he was moping on the mountain there. I believe he was up there just “Okay, God, just take me on home.” When they came and he did what the Lord told him to do and the fire came down from Heaven and everything, I think God was still trying to show him, “You know what? The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. The power is still there, Elijah, if you just humble yourself.”
Don’t get me wrong. I know I couldn’t touch the hem of Elijah’s garment, but remember, friend, God called you not for your glory, but for His, not for your pleasure, but for His. Valleys can create a victim mentality for the Christian and for preachers, for all of God’s servants. Valleys can affect the voices that you listen to – Jezebel, your own heart, or the words of God, or how you approach the voice of God. Valleys will affect your vision of yourself, of other people, and of your God.
I’m asking you today, servant of the Lord. Has your call become a burden? Would to God we would humble ourselves and get back to remembering who we were and what God did for us, the privilege He has allowed us just to be a servant of the Most High God.