A Search like No Other

By Shirley Mitchell   “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.”             1 Kings 18:10   Many of you know that I am now studying and writing about Elijah. I have not felt led to share much with you so that it would be fresh to you when you first see it. However, there are a few things that God put on my heart to share with you. Let’s call it a preview of the Bible study.   The story of Elijah begins with him declaring to King Ahab, the king of Israel, that there will be no dew or rain in the next few years except at his word. Then the LORD tells Elijah to leave and to go to a place of safety that He has prepared for Elijah. In the third year of the drought, the LORD told Elijah to present himself to Ahab. Elijah finds Obadiah first while they were searching for water and grass for their animals so they could keep them alive. In today’s verse, we learn from the prophet Obadiah that King Ahab had sent men to every nation and kingdom searching for Elijah. Ahab made them take an oath that Elijah was not there. He had scoured the known countries of the earth. He was empty-handed. Elijah was out of his reach.   I find it interesting that he appeared before Ahab while he was searching for water and grass. Ahab was far away from the palace of Jezebel. She had killed the prophets of the Lord. Since Jezebel was so evil, maybe she would have tried to put Elijah to death upon the sight of him without any conversation. Since God knew it was not time for His anointed prophet to die, He would have to raise His impenetrable force field or some other divine protection. Instead, God chose to present him before King Ahab.   God showed me something so wonderful about this story. As I was flying back from Colorado to the Atlanta airport for a business trip, I was looking out my window. The clouds were beautiful on this day. A sea of white, soft clouds barred me from seeing the earth. It was hard to believe that we could pass right through them. I asked God to tell me something. Normally, I don’t sit in the window seat but rather in the aisle seat. So I asked for Him to speak to me something about Himself as I looked at the beauty of His creation. There must be something He wanted to say to me since He planted me in this seat.   He said, “Ahab’s search is nothing like My search. My search is all-inclusive.” He spoke to my heart so fast that I understood what He meant almost instantly. While I was still in the spirit, I wrote more. Our God can search in every kingdom and nation on earth. God sees from every view point and in any direction. He sees from up in the sky, looking down to earth. He sees across the earth.  He can scour every house, every cave, and every tent. He spots everything on earth, under the earth, and at the bottom of the sea. He can look above the earth, above the clouds, in the clouds, and into space.    I thought of Psalm 139:1-3a, 7-8 which says, “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down…Where can I go from your Spirit?   Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”   God is everywhere! There is nowhere that anyone can hide from God. His search is nothing like the search of man. He has the ability to search and scour all of the earth. He never loses sight of you and me. You and I can’t flee from God, neither can our loved ones. There is no bar room that He does not see. There is no drug house that He can’t see. There is no jail that He does not see. There is no cesspool of sin that our God is not right there. We can’t hide from God. Hallelujah to God! No one is out of His reach! Does this encourage you for where you were, where you are, or where your loved ones are today? We are never out of His sight!   Pray with me: Oh, Lord, we praise You! Some of us have needed Your eye upon us to guide us through the depths of sin. Some of us have needed Your hand upon us as we have walked through the valleys of despair. Some of us have tried to hide from You and not face You. All of us have never been out of Your sight and always within Your reach. Thank You for Your all-seeing eyes. Thank You for Your all-knowing ways and knowing when the right time was to speak to us and to have an encounter with You.  We pray for the ones in the cesspools of sin that they will be sickened by their lifestyle of sin. We pray that they can recognize that there is so much living that they are missing. A person is never more alive than he or she is in You. May they know what life on the edge is really about…it’s about You! It’s in the Name above all names, in Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, we pray. Amen.

Copyright ©2011 Christ Compels Ministry

The Impossible

The Impossible

" 'Give me your son,' Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the LORD, 'O LORD my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?' Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, 'O LORD my God, let this boy's life return to him!' "
1 Kings 17:19-21

During the time of drought in Israel prophesied by Elijah as judgment for turning to other gods, God led him to stay with the widow at Zarephath. God miraculously provided for this widow and her son through the prophet Elijah. Even though they had this continuous provision from God, some time later tragedy struck. Her son became ill. He grew worse and worse until he stopped breathing. The widow brought the limp body of her precious son to Elijah. In her despair and grief, she said, "What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?"

Feeling her sorrow, Elijah took the body from her arms and carried him upstairs to his bedroom. There he cried out to God and asked Him something that no one else ever had. Scripture had not recorded anyone rising from the dead at this time.Not one person. Jesus had not stopped the funeral of the widow's son and turned their mourners' wailing into praising and leaping. Jesus had not entered Jarius' daughter's room and said "My child, get up!" Jesus had not spoken to Lazarus to come out of the grave even in his grave clothes. Elisha, who also raised people from the dead, would come after Elijah. This had never been done before. There was no precedent.

Elijah could not say, "Do it like You did it before." He could not say, "Do it like You did it for Your Son Jesus." Elijah could not offer suggestions to God based on his past activity nor could he submit that he was worthy enough like other prophets to have walked as closely to God as humanly possible.

This was "out of the box" thinking. This was a prayer that did not limit the power of God. This prayer believed that the arm of God was able to reach anywhere. This prayer was backed by faith that nothing was too hard for God (Genesis 18:14).

We live in a time where God's Holy Bible with two Testaments is completed, but the activity of God in our world today continues. God continues to manifest Himself in new ways that awe us. He loves an invitation to display His creative power. He responds to people who believe that He is mighty and that He can surpass the laws of the world that He created. God's Son Jesus emphasized this to us by saying, "Everything is possible for him who believes" (Mark 9:23). At another time, Jesus said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26).

It seems that miracles are more prevalent in countries that don't have their own military might, advanced medical care, safety regulations, and higher education facilities. Many of us in this country have put our trust in these protections and powers. Isn't it interesting that someone with less education than we have can sometimes know God's power more than we do? All four of these are blessings, but blessings can turn to curses if God diminishes in our eyes.

Gosh, I don't ever want to go there. I want to live a life where God continues to stretch my mind about who He is. I want to live every day searching for more revelation of God. I want more glimpses of God on His throne and peeks into heaven. I want to know God as much as possible, and I want to see the impossible because I want HIM! If you feel like I do, then let's keep pressing on together and giving God invitations to show His might and power!

Pray with me: Oh, Lord, we desire to have the faith of Elijah. Just because something has not been done before doesn't mean that You can't do it or that You won't do it. It is not that we seek You only for the sake of entertainment or thirst for power. We seek to live life out on the edge with You. We desire to live an "everything is possible" life with You. It's in the Name above all names that we pray, in Jesus' Name, Yeshua's Name. Amen.

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