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After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
Now the famine was severe in Samaria, and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of his palace. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the LORD. While Jezebel was killing off the LORD’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.) Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals.” So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another.As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, “Is it really you, my lord Elijah?”
“Yes,” he replied. “Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’ “
“What have I done wrong,” asked Obadiah, “that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you. But now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ I don’t know where the Spirit of the LORD may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the LORD since my youth. Haven’t you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the LORD ? I hid a hundred of the LORD’s prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. And now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ He will kill me!”
Elijah said, “As the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today.”
Faith and obedience are travel companions heading to the same “destination”-namely, to please and glorify the Lord. You cannot have one without the other. They grow simultaneously as they are practiced, but will wither if neglected.
Elijah was a man with both of these qualities. He believed God and consistently responded in obedience. When the Lord said to show himself to King Ahab, he didn’t permit fear to stop him. He had learned through experience that the Father was faithful and trustworthy.
Fear short-circuits faith when we begin to doubt that God’s way is
>really best. If we allow worry to gain a foothold in our minds, we’ll respond by refusing to do what the Lord says, which is disobedience. The result will be a change in our “travel plans”-by rejecting the way of faith and obedience, we’re actually choosing the path of unbelief and sin.
Satan loves our fear and disobedience because they hinder the journey that God has designed for us. We can’t believe the Lord for great things in one area of our life if we are allowing sin in another. Self-examination is essential in the walk of faith. Where have you compromised by allowing sin a foothold? Are you resisting anything that God says in His Word?
Great faith begins with small steps. When you choose to follow God’s Word, an ever-increasing cycle of faith and obedience will begin. Don’t let fear or sin rob you of the great adventure He’s planned for your life. Who has a better track record for choosing the right path-you or God? Believe Him!
