Do you ever think about the kind of epitaph that your family or you might want to have on your tombstone? It can be an entertaining topic of conversation and it can also be quite thought provoking. The words describing King Ahab were not simply inscribed on stone, they were printed in the Bible for generations of people to read and to consider. It was written that “he did evil in the Lord’s sight even more than any of the kings before him” and “he did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him.” Why in the world did God let such a man rule His people for 22 years? Where was God during the decades when these wicked men ruled the nation of Israel? When would the Lord, the God of Israel, bring judgment upon the wicked and show His mighty power on behalf of those who had been faithful to Him? How long would they have to wait?
When God did decide that the time was right, he used a man with very strong convictions. He asked a man whose name meant, “The Lord is my God” to demonstrate to everyone that his God was alive. He chose a man whose background was insignificant. A man who was not highly educated or refined. A man who had days of incredible faith and courage and had periods of discouragement and weakness. He used a man who would take great risks because he believed with all his heart and soul that his God would answer prayer and bring honor to Himself alone. His name was Elijah.
Wouldn’t it be amazing to have it said about you, as it is said about Elijah, “He did as the LORD told him to do”? It’s not the size or fame of the miracle, is it? It’s the fact that God can use you to demonstrate the power of His resurrection in ways that are ordinarily unexplainable when you are willing to “wait on Him” with conviction.
