We as human beings are prone to fear and forgetfulness. Unfortunately, this tendency can help keep us stuck in careers we don’t love. I’ll share more about that momentarily, but for now, allow me to introduce you to a prophet whose memory problem and forgetfulness created unnecessary challenges, and caused him to wish he were dead.
“Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.'” In 1 Kings 17:1
And just like that, It didn’t rain for three and a half years. And then after three and a half years, Elijah prayed, and it started to rain again. Later, when there was no food to eat because of the drought caused by the lack of rain, God used ravens to feed Elijah. Verse 6 says, “And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.”
Humans aren’t usually fed by birds. In fact, birds are often quite reluctant to share food. Have you ever seen two birds fighting over a french fry? It’s not pretty. Yet, they were feeding Elijah every day, because God commanded them to. Later, God sent a poor widow to provide food for him. Miraculously, she didn’t run out of food. In the middle of a severe drought, she was able to provide for herself, her son, and Elijah.
As if that weren’t enough, there’s my favorite. Elijah was a prophet of the one true God. But there were also false gods, and these false gods also had prophets. At this particular time, some of the Israelites had foolishly begun to follow and serve a false god named Baal. Elijah confronted them, and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.’ And the people did not answer him a word.” 1 Kings 17:21
Elijah decided that the time had come for a showdown. He built an altar, and the prophets of Baal built an altar. They were both to sacrifice a bull on their altar, but they weren’t to light a fire for the burnt offering, as would usually be done. Elijah commanded that each of them would call upon the name of their god, and the one who responds by sending fire to burn the offering is the true God.
Elijah invited the 450 prophets of Baal to go first. They set up their bull on the altar and began to call out to Baal. They cried out to him and limped around the altar they had made. Nothing happened. They did this from morning to noon. Still, nothing. They even began to cut themselves, to cry out even louder, and to, quite frankly, act foolish. Still, no response.
Finally, it was Elijah’s turn. He built an altar out of stones. He then made a trench around the altar, put wood on it, and placed the bull on top. Three times he had four large jars, which were about 7 liters each, poured on it. The water ran all around the altar and filled the trench. Then he called out to God, and he prayed. He asked the Lord to demonstrate that He is the only true God. Here’s what happened:
“Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” (vs. 38).
In each of these instances, God demonstrated His great power and provision to and through Elijah. Elijah experienced miracle after miracle from God, yet, after the situation on Mt. Carmel with the prophets of Baal (after which Elijah had all the prophets of Baal killed), Jezebel was angry and wanted Elijah dead. His response to her death threats was as follows:
“Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die,” (v. 3-4a)
After all he had seen God do in his life, Elijah didn’t trust God to protect him from Jezebel. This same God who gave him the authority to say when it would and would not rain, Who used ravens to feed him bread and meat, and Who performed this incredible miracle of sending fire from heaven to consume the burnt offering – and the water, and the wood, and the stone, and even the dust – somehow, in this moment, Elijah doubted that this same God would come through for him again. Can you relate? I can.
I know you are thinking about making a career move. And I know that’s scary. Over and over again women have shared with me how fear is often the primary obstacle keeping them from moving forward. What if it doesn’t work out? What if I can’t make enough money? What if I fail? I get it. These are real concerns. But here’s my question for you? How many times has the opposite been true for you? How many times have things worked out? How many times has God provided for your needs, regardless of the job you have or how much money you are making? How many times have you tried something, anything, in your life and succeeded? Could it be, that in this moment, you are forgetting all that God has brought about in your life thus far?
Let’s not be like Elijah – forgetting all the wonderful things God has done, and all the ways He’s seen us through. True, there are no guarantees. Things may not work out perfectly. But I’m betting that your fears are not as scary as they seem.
If you are feeling paralzyed by fear as you contemplate your next career move, I can help with that. Reach out today and schedule a free discovery session. Let’s do this – together.
