There had been a whirlwind of activities over several days. It had been a powerful spiritual experience but it had taken it's toll. Elijah was spent!

In I Kings 18-19, Elijah takes on the prophets of Baal and Asherah. The event has all the ingredients of a big-time production. Everything necessary to keep one on the edge of the seat. The contest- Elijah vs. 850 prophets. The challenge-to call down fire from heaven to consume a sacrifice. The intrigue-after taunting his opponents for their efforts and failure, the stakes are raised by Elijah, who has his altar/sacrifice doused with water. By now the activities are at fever-pitch with some wondering what Elijah is going to do next, and others thinking he's crazy!

The climax-God's fire consumes altar/sacrifice/water until nothing is left. What a day! Elijah finishes the day off with the execution of his opponents.

Elijah was riding high, everything going his way. But word comes from Jezebel that he was as good as dead. He took off a day's journey, sat down and prayed to die. An angel strengthened him for 40 days of travel, but he still felt isolated and ready to die. God corrected Elijah on his assumption of aloness-God had 7,000 reserved in Israel!

Elijah was not alone, God was with him. If that were not enough, there were 7,000 just like him in Israel.

We forget sometimes. We get caught up in people, events, and circumstances…and we often lose sight of reality; the reality that God is with us. Like Elijah, we have our victories…and our defeats. However in neither instance are we alone. Churches as well deal with that idea of aloneness. We get caught up in the past, in aging membership, in dwindling finances, in the hopelessness of our abandonment. We forget, as individuals and churches, that we are not detached, separated neither from one another nor from God! God is with us, and thru Him we are connected to one another.

We forget that as United Methodists we are: over 8 million members from about 35,000 churches, with another 1.5 million worldwide. We are connected through our faith, our heritage, our Lord.

John 15:4 says, "Abide in me, and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. In Christ, we abide together!

Greg Wingo
Harlan United Methodist Church