Gods Sabbath

T HE C ONSEQUENCES OF G OD ’ S P LANS

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possessed implicit confidence in the One whom he served, he would never have appeared before Ahab. On his way to Samaria, Elijah had passed by ever-flowing streams, hills covered with ver dure, and stately forests that seemed beyond the reach of drought. Everything on which the eye rested was clothed with beauty. The prophet might have wondered how the streams that had never ceased their flow could become dry, or how those hills and valleys could be burned with drought. But he gave no place to unbelief. He fully believed that God would humble apostate Israel, and that through judgments they would be brought to repentance. The fiat of Heaven had gone forth; God’s word could not fail; and at the peril of his life Elijah fearlessly fulfilled his commission. Like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, the message of impending judgment fell upon the ears of the wicked king; but before Ahab could recov er from his astonishment, or frame a reply, Elijah disappeared as abruptly as he had come, without waiting to witness the effect of his message.” Prophets and Kings , 120.2–121.2. The first part of the plan, involving the prophet’s appearance before the king, called for faith and courage. The next phase called for faith again, as well as patience. God instructed Elijah to hide himself unnoticed by a remote brook. “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.” 1Kings 17:3. As the dreary months of solitude and inactivity passed by, it must have been difficult for a man of such positive action as Elijah, to wait patiently for God’s plan to be executed. Even more trying was the fact that he was not told how long he would have to remain there alone. Elijah demonstrated his vir tues as a faithful and reliable workman by refusing to move until the divine plan provided for it. He permitted no thread of human devising to mar God’s scheme, no matter how great the pressure on him to do so. While he maintained this position with total confidence in his heavenly Plan Maker, the strategy moved forward with perfect precision toward its ultimate con summation. Elijah Waits on the Lord