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Even I only
Elijah, at a certain great crisis, thought he was the only one left to stand for God. There were others but he never knew of them. He was the only one in this field of God. He stood alone, one man against the King and Priest & people. It must have looked like utter foolishness, or splendid heroism.
There comes a time in our lives, that it is all who are Christians, when we must stand alone for God, without companionship, perhaps without even sympathy or encouragement. Here is a young person, the only one of his family who has confessed Christ Jesus. He takes Him [Christ Jesus] as his saviour, and then stands up in front of the World, and vows to be His [Christ Jesus] and to follow Him. Elijah then decides to visit home. This is because the members of his immediate family circle are indeed very dear to him, although none of them are Christians, and so he must stand alone for Christ amongst them. Perhaps they even oppose him in his discipleship, in varying degrees this often happens in our own experience. Could be that they are just indifferent, making no opposition, only just quietly watching his/your life to see if is just a passing fad with you. If you were consistent for 60yrs. They would still have ready their ..’I told you so’ .. ready. In any case, how ever, we must stand firm for Christ alone without the help that comes your family’s companionships.
# So what if they make you feel alone,
and you feel like everyone is against you.
The fact is your not alone, don’t sit under
this attitude, for God is with you #
It may be your in the factory, in School, pupil or teacher. As a young Christian you find yourself standing alone. You return to the Lords table to you weekly duties full of noble impulses, but find himself the only Christian. His companions are ready to sneer, and they point the finger of scorn at him with irritating epithets .. below of the word was formed …
… or they might even persecute him in petty ways. At least they are not Christ's friends, he is a follower of the Master finds no sympathy among them in his new life. He has learnt that he must stand alone in his discipleship , conscience all the while that unfriendly eyes are upon him. Many a young & older Christians find it very hard to be the only one to stand for Christ in your normal circle of friends & family, and to stand Christ in your circle in which his daily work fixed him to this one place.
This kind of aloneness, as it can put upon us great responsibility…
- Like .. your the only Christian in your family,
- Like .. your the only one at home through whom to reveal His Love ~ His Grace ~ His Holiness
- Like .. to show your family the beauty of Christ, to the Works of Christ, the things He would do if He lived there.
… Perhaps the salvation of all the souls of your family depends on you being true & faithful in your own place. If you falter, if you fail in your duty, your Loved ones may be lost, and the blame will be yours, their blood on you . . . [NLT]John 5:37/8 “And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, 38 and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me” … In like manner if the only Christian in the place where you work .. Shop ~ office ~ factory. A peculiar responsibility rests on you there too, a responsibility which no other would share with you. You are Christ’s only witness there, if you don’t testify there for Him, at this time there will be no other to do this.
[NKJ] Matthew 5:14/16 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven”
I read of this story about a lady called Miss Havergal from Düsseldorf in Germany ..
It tells of her experience in a girls school,in the early 1900’s. She went there to teach
soon after she had become a Christian andhad confessed Christ. Such her heart was
warm of love for her Saviour, and she waseager to speak for Him. To her amazement,
however, she learned among the hundredgirls in the school she was the only Christian.
Her first feeling was one of dismay , she couldnot confess Christ in that great company of,
Worldly unchristian companions. Her gentile,sensitive heart shrank from a duty so hard.
Her second thought however, was that shecould not refrain confess Christ. I am the
only one here, she said. And this thoughtgave her great strength and inspiration to her.
She realised that she had a mission in thatschool, that she was Christ’s witness there. His
only witness, and that she dared not fail.
[NLT]1 Thessalonians 2:4 “For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts”
The same sense of responsibility rests upon every thoughtful Christian, who is called to be Christ’s only witness in a place ~ in a home ~ in a Shop ~ in a School student or teacher ~ in a circle of friends. You are Christ’s only servant there, and dare not be unfaithful, else all your work in Christ, may fail. Remember He’s the light set to shine for his master, and if His light be hidden the darkness will be unrelieved [lacking variation, i.e.:- Monotonous] So there is special inspiration in this consciousness of being the only one Christ has in a certain place.
We will often be the only one Christ has at a particular place, where we are in that moment. There may well be thousands of other lives about us, though we may only be one, of a large congregation where we live. Yet each one of us has a life that is alone in it’s responsibility in it’s danger, in the mission, and duty. You may be left feeling that though are others close beside me, but NOT one can take my place, or do my duty, or fulfil the mission, or even bear my responsibility..
We can understand how that Elijah had failed God that day when he was the only one God had to take a stand for Him, the consequences would have been most disastrous, the cause of God would have suffered irreparably. Are we sure that the calamity to Christ’s Kingdom would be any less if one of us should fail God in our lowly place, any common day?
I’m sure there are some of you think that “I have nothing to offer that god can use, S T O P, think again, as no matter how little , or lowly, you think yourself, God can still use you.
There is a story of a child finding a leak in the dyke that shut off the sea from Holland, and stopping it with his hand till help came along, ending up he stayed there all night, holding back the floods with his little hands. It was but a little trickling stream that he held back, yet if he had not done this, it would have soon become a torrent, and before the morning the sea would have swept over all the land, (as Holland is for the most part flat plains), submerging fields homes and Cities. Between the sea and all this devastation that was halted by a boys hand. Had the child failed the flood would have rolled in with remorseless ruin. We understand how important it was the boy should be faithful to his duty, since he was the only one God had that night to save Holland.
[NKJV] Romans 14:4 “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand”
Do you know that your failure in your lowly place and duty may not let in a sea of disaster which shall sweep away human hopes & joys, possibly human souls? The humblest of us dare not fail, for our one life is all God has at the point where we stand.
The truth of personal responsibility is one of tremendous moment. We won’t escape it by being in a crowd, one of a family, or of a congregation. No one can live our lives ~ do our work ~ meet our obligations ~ bear our burdens. No one but ourselves can stand for us before God to render an account of our deeds. There is another part to this lesson, in that we are responsible for our own Life & Duty.
The prophet thought his work had failed, because the over throw of ‘Baal-ism’ seemed incomplete. But God confronted him by telling him of 3 other men to come, each in his time, and to do his part of the work in destroying ‘Baal-ism’. In fact Elijah’s work had not failed but it was only a fragment of the whole work.
The best work any of do in this world is but a fragment. We all enter into each other work, and other in turn will enter into our work, and finish or carry on the work we started till completion. Out duty is just carry on planting seeds, we are to simply to well in our part, no matter how small part. If we do that, we should never fret ourselves, about the part we cannot do. That part belongs to someone else, coming after us.
Elisha follows Elijah 1 Kings 19:19-21 “So Elijah went and found Elisha son of Shaphat ploughing a field. There were twelve teams of oxen in the field, and Elisha was ploughing with the twelfth team. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak across his shoulders and then walked away. 20 Elisha left the oxen standing there, ran after Elijah, and said to him, “First let me go and kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you!” Elijah replied, “Go on back, but think about what I have done to you.” 21 So Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plough to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant”
For all Elijah’s years of being alone prophet all his life, and only God by his side, now he has someone to work along side of him. This has to have been a foreign to him? Whilst we may feel alone in our own responsibility, we need to give no thought for our own duty, our own little fragment of the Lords work. The things we cannot do, after the work has passed from our hands to another. There will be comfort in this, for any who fail in their effort and leave tasks unfinished which they hoped to complete, no worry this finishing is for another mission.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, Thank you for walking along side us, even when the road the going is tough. You are my comforter, strong tower of refuge. You have already traveled the path, and so made a way where there seems to be no way. help us to become a 'Baranbas' one who encourages.
