Devotional - April 9, 2025
Scripture: 1 Kings 17: 17 - 18 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
So, everything is going along great and -bang! Elijah goes from being a hero to a heel. From the same person who spoke words of appreciation, come curses and there is no way out for Elijah. Her words truly are stinging, but do they seem at all familiar in your life? Amidst all Elijah is doing, providing them food and water, he is accused of being the reason for her son's death. He is accused of being a prophet of punishment and doom, instead of good news and life. It makes me think of a saying, no good deed goes unpunished. If you barter in such wares, you know this saying can be all together true. Hopefully, you can see a bit deeper into the situation. Unfortunately, deep down this lady's soul is wounded. Her guilty feelings about something she did, her sin. We can make assumptions about her sin, but in the end, the text does not reveal it, maybe on purpose... I am sure every time something bad happens, she sees it as punishment for her sin. Sound familiar...? Many of us have such feelings. Even worse, some have others in their life who make it a point to remind them of it. Completely inappropriate. Peter held his sin of denying Jesus in his heart (John 21: 15-17). Jesus questions him three (symbolic of wholeness and completion) times about his love for Jesus. He does so, as a way of helping Peter to get past what he did and onward to the mission at hand. Jesus never mentions the denials nor does Jesus reject him for it. It was Jesus who foretold Peter he would do it in the first place (Luke 22:34, Matthew 26:34) In our case, when we confess our sin to God, God forgives us of our sins (1 John 1:9). People may hold grudges, but God does not (Psalm 103:12). To those who hold grudges against you, forgive them, do what you can to help them, and pray for them (Luke 6:28 & 11:4). Then, you need to continue onward. That goes for us too. We have to forgive ourselves for the sins we have done. We may have feelings of regret over it, but there is more life to live, and things to do, ...onward. But like Elijah, we may have had nothing to do with what happened to another, but we bear the brunt of their discontent. If you see it (the other person) for what it is, a pot boiling away in their soul, know it will probably spill a bit on you and anyone else who is around. As best you can, do not take it personally. Pray for them, because the pot is always spilling over on them. This lady serves a vengeful and punitive god who would kill her son for something she did. Wow! Be thankful, that is not us! We have a Savior God (Isaiah 12:2) who redeems us (Psalms 78:35) and helps us live our lives (2 Chronicles 16:9).
Pray with me ..., Holy God how grateful we are for your love and grace. May it encourage our hearts. Hear us as we ask Your blessing on those who are near and dear to our hearts. We ask Your blessing on our church, so we can bless others. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen
God's peace,
Pastor Brian
