“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad…for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” – Matthew 5:11-12 

Scripture reading: 1 Kings 18:1-18

After three years of drought, death and despair, faithless Ahab meets the very prophet who by the Word of the Lord had prophesied these calamities upon his covenant breaking nation. Predictably, when Ahab saw Elijah he said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” And Elijah answers, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have…because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals.” Like many, when they get into trouble, Ahab fails to lay the blame where it rightly belongs and to confront the real troubler of Israel – himself! For no one could have mistaken the sun’s scorching rays from the heat of God’s wrath. Yet, Ahab refuses to own his sin.

Milton says in Paradise Lost, “Fallen man would rather rule in hell than serve in Heaven.” And that’s true of all of us, apart from Christ. For anytime you point out sin, in yourself or another, the flesh will cry out against you and accuse you of causing trouble. So it happens, personally, politically and denominationally when people, societies and churches stray from the truth of God’s revealed Word and are called to repent. Thank God that One far greater than Elijah has come not only to confront us as the true troublers, but to bear the consequences of our trouble – our sin – on the cross!

Suggestions for prayer

Ask for a broken, contrite heart that trembles at the hearing of God’s Word. Ask for the kind of repentance and faith in Christ that shows your deliverance, not only from the penalty of sin, but from its power.

Rev. Barry Beukema is a graduate of Calvin College and Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. He has pastored the Christian Reformed Churches in Burdett, Alberta and Smithers, British Columbia. He then pastored the URCNA churches of Smithers, BC, Thunder Bay, ON, Lacombe, AB, Neerlandia, AB, and is now pastoring the United Reformed Church of Taber, Alberta.Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com.