Only Human - 1 Kings 19:2-4

Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time."  And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went 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 prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!"

I am glad that the Bible is full of men of faith who have been used by God to do great things.  I am more thankful that God also shows us the shortcomings of these “great” men of God.  It doesn’t take long if you really dive into God’s word to find God’s chosen people, God’s redeemed, God’s children messing things up.  It is reassuring to know that as I continue to stumble and stagger along trying to serve God and bring Him glory, I am in good company; the boldest and the bravest, faithful men of God were in fact only human.

One of my favorite examples is Elijah.  Now this man was a profound and still respected profit of God.  He really had it going on; he went head to head with the profits of Baal on Mount Carmel.  He taunted, teased and laughed at them when their god could not consume the sacrifice they had prepared for him.  To add insult to injury, Elijah had the sacrifice he had prepared for God be soaked (more like flooded) in water.  Then with a living faith, he called out to God and fire came down out of the sky and completely consumed the sacrifice. What a sight that must have been!  It gives me chills just thinking about the greatness and power of the Almighty God. 

After this great victory he killed the profits of Baal.  Word reached Jezebel and she put out a death threat on his life.  Now I know what you are thinking, “I bet he stood up ready to call out and bring more fire down from the heavens! He probably wasn’t even scared!”.  Wrong.  Elijah did what most of us would do when faced with threat of execution, he tucked tail and ran for his life. He even went as far as asking God to just let him die.  Just days ago he had stood with unshakeable, all consuming faith, and now he was practically shaking in his bones.  Turns out Elijah was only human too!

Take heart in knowing that the great men in the Bible who were used to do great, even miraculous things, were mere humans.  They were faced with the same fears, failures as you and me.  They sinned, and fell short of God’s glory often.  Yet because they believed God, trusted in Him, and turned back to Him after they had fallen flat on their face in failure, He worked mighty works in and through them; He will do the same in you, if you will surrender your life to Him.   Will you mess up? Yes, probably a lot.  Will you ever be good enough? Only by His grace! 

Don’t allow the fact that you are “only human” to hold you back; after all the Bible is full of remarkable men and women who are just like you!