1 Kings 19:15-21 – Faithfully discharge our God-given assignments

Despite Elijah’s tantrum, God graciously called him back to active service. In 1 Kings 19:15-18, God commanded him to return to the wilderness of Damascus and assigned him three tasks to do. He was to anoint Hazael king over Aram. This implies God’s rulership even over the non-Israelite nations. It’s a way of pointing out that God is the Sovereign Lord of all nations. Secondly, he was to anoint Jehu, the son of Nimshi, as the king of Israel. This was an indication that He, Yahweh, was still the one controlling and deciding who should rule Israel, His covenant people. Thirdly, Elijah was to anoint Elisha as his successor to continue the work that he had begun. In verse 17, God gave hint about how He would use Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha. He said, ^“It shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death.” Besides assigning Elijah the three tasks, God also made known to him that He had preserved for Himself 7,000 who had not bowed their knees to Baal, as well as a remnant who had no relationship with him. The implication is this: if God could protect and preserve the remnant, He certainly could keep Elijah safe.

The first key lesson to draw from this passage is this. In serving God, we must do our best but to leave the result of our work with Him. Elijah was discouraged because he did not see the result he anticipated. So he stopped work, left his post, and shrank into despair. Never forget that our responsibility in serving God is to do what we can and leave God to do what we cannot. Here’s the encouragement of Paul in  Galatians 6:9, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” Just be faithful and committed to our assigned tasks.

The second lesson is this. Like Elijah, we must not be mistaken that we alone would be enough to complete God’s work. He slaughtered the prophets of Baal at brook Kisbon. It was not the end of Baal’s influence on the nation. Elijah mistook that in that one act the influence of Baal would be terminated. But it was not so. It was needful for others to be involved in God’s work. So he was sent to appoint Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha, other instruments to further deal with the influence of Baal. This reminds us that we need to continuously enlist others into the field to do the work of God more effectively. Remember the field according to Jesus is white unto harvest but laborers are few. We must help to raise labourers for the field. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 2:2 to recruit other faithful men who will be able to teach and train others also. This is to ensure the continuity of God’s work. We cannot afford to be a lone ranger in the work of God!