A Faith Bigger than Fear

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” (1 Kings 19:3-4 NIV)

Elijah had just performed a huge miracle.  God was glorified and the people believed in Him once more. But then the Queen Jezebel threatened his life and Elijah ran. He eventually ended up in a cave on Mount Sinai. This made me ponder human nature. No matter what great things we may do for God, when something goes wrong we retreat to safety. It’s like there is this internal mechanism that just keeps repeating “I need to be safe. I need to be safe.” We forget the power that is behind what we believe. We also forget the love that is ever present. When Jesus faced the cross, He also wanted to retreat (Matthew 26:39) but He continued down the path to His death.  He faced the storm and held fast because He knew the ultimate outcome. Today, my prayer is that our faith will be bigger than our fears and we will continue down the path God has laid out for us.

–Elaine Kapetanakis