2. Times Of Courage

Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.” (1 Kings 17:1)

With these few words, Elijah stepped into the pages of the Bible, and right into the middle of a hornet’s nest. Israel’s economy…

3. Times Of Training

Several years ago, sports-shoe maker Nike ran a series of ads themed, “What are you getting ready for?” One showed an NFL football player throwing himself down a steep, rocky hill. Another had a soccer player doing everything in life with his feet. The point? What we do today is getting us ready for something.

What are you getting ready…

4. Times Of Faith

Someone has defined “faith” with the acrostic, “Forsaking All I Trust Him.” That’s certainly what happened with Elijah. He had forsaken all to trust God. After he confronted King Ahab and ridiculed his idol, Baal, he ran into the wilderness. But he had to trust God to provide for him in a desolate place.

Elijah had learned that God could provide…

5. Times Of Conflict

Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” (Jn. 18:38). People are still asking that question today.

The issue was the same in Elijah’s day—the people had rejected the God of truth for the lies of the gods of the land. Truth had been lost in a culture of idolatry.

In the time that had elapsed since the prophet had left Zarephath,…

6. Times Of Frailty

Few emotions so quickly expose the frailty of men and women as the emotion of despair. When we are battling with our own hearts—regardless of the reason for the struggle—we can find ourselves in a life-and death war. Despair, that darkest of human emotions, can woo us, entice us, and even destroy us. Sometimes we meet it...

• at our job,…

7. The Time Is Today

The musical group The Association sang “The Time It Is Today” in the 1960s, calling young people to live for something more than themselves—to make a difference in the world in their own generation. That same call comes to followers of Christ today. We are given this moment in time to represent our God in the world. And, like Elijah,…