LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
For the Glory of God
"Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart be encouraged; yes, wait for the LORD" (Psalm 27:14).
We often use this expression: "Let it be to the glory of God, let God be glorified". How can God truly be glorified in us? "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit" (John 15:8).
The Scriptures in 1 Kings 18:42-44 tell us: "Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, and fell on the ground, and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, Go up now, and look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said to him again, Go back seven times. And the seventh time he said, I see a little cloud like the palm of a man's hand coming up out of the sea. And he said, Go and tell Ahab, 'Anoint your chariot and go down, so that the rain will not come upon you".
God teaches us by that passage that, as long as we do not see His mighty hand rise, we must be with our face between our knees, waiting. Even if we rise seven times to look, we must never do anything, act in our strength, in the flesh. In the things of God, "the flesh profits nothing", Jesus said.
The inclination of the flesh results in death, and cannot please God: "For they that are of the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but they that are of the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace ... and those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Rom. 8:5-6, 8). But we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit; and it is by the Spirit that we must walk, so as not to fulfill the lust of the flesh: "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16).
Elijah, as the passage in James 5:17 says, was a man subject to the same passions as we are; he was weak and needy like us, but in the face of need he prayed to the Lord and hoped in him. Let us pray to the Lord and hope in his providence. Only then will he be glorified.