Where are you standing?

“Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab,
“As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve,
there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.””
(1 Kings 17:1)

Elijah was a pretty amazing Biblical figure. He prayed and there was no rain over the land of Israel for three and a half years. God used him to raise a person from the dead. He faced off against the prophets of Baal with courageous faith. He appeared alongside Moses when Jesus was transfigured into amazing glory. 

All of this makes James’ words in the New Testament all the more surprising: “Elijah was a human being, even as we are.” (James 5:17) Elijah seems like a super-human character, close to God and through whom God is able to do amazing things. But James insists Elijah is no different to you and me. So what makes the difference?
 
The difference is found in where Elijah is standing. The very first words we hear Elijah speaking are recorded for us in 1 Kings 17:
 
“As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” (1 Kings 17:1)
 
“Whom I serve” could be more literally translated “before whom I stand.” The members of a king’s court would stand before them, ready to serve and follow out their instructions. Elijah stands before the King of Kings, and is ready and willing to do his bidding.
 
Do you ever wish that God would do amazing things in and through you? Do you wonder if God might use you as he did Elijah? It all starts with where we stand.
 
Elijah could do what he did for God because he stood in God’s presence. He spoke God’s words because he had spent time listening to God. He acted with power because he knew he was standing before God and acted only in God’s power.
 
Do you know where you are standing? Do we realise that we are standing before the Lord, the God of Israel, creator of the universe and ruler over all things? The very same God who empowered Elijah is with each one of us by the Holy Spirit. We live, work, eat and sleep in his presence each and every day. Perhaps God will do great things through us when we realise the greatness of the one in whose presence we live and breathe and stand each day.
 
Photo by Luke van Zyl on Unsplash