I can’t tell you my exact age when the subject of a bicycle for my birthday came up. It had to be early elementary school, guessing first grade.  My father, sister and I were up early one Saturday morning watching weekly cartoons. (For those of you younger than 40, you will be surprised to know you could not watch cartoons every day. There was no Disney channel or Nickelodeon channel, and there was certainly no such thing as cable or satellite dish networks.) That was our routine. Mom got to rest and sleep in, and dad, Renee and I had Saturday morning time. Dad said “Cherie, mom and I are thinking about a bicycle for your birthday, what color do you want it to be?” After the squeals stopped, I started thinking about colors. Now mind you, I am not the creative type, but I didn’t want it to look like everyone else’s bikes. I wanted to stand out. There was a cartoon on TV that morning that had an octopus that lived at a zoo.  His home was a pretty copper color.  I announced copper was the color that I wanted. My father confirmed it because I’m pretty sure at the time, no one had a copper colored bike. The decision was made, my birthday came around, and POOF! A copper painted bicycle appeared! I was excited. All the older kids on our block loved to ride bikes. I was now going to be able to join them. BUT…I first had to learn how to ride the bike. Because money was very tight at our house, my bike was second hand (that’s how I got to have a copper colored bike, dad and mom needed to paint it). Since it was second hand, it was too big for me. I could not sit on the seat and put my feet on the ground. I had some learning to do. I needed courage.

Courage, you ask? Yes, I needed the courage to have my father let go of the seat and let me peddle on my own. I needed to figure out a way to balance that bicycle without training wheels and keep it moving forward without falling and getting hurt. Courage was needed so I could be a part of the fun…the “big kids” would ride down the slope of the ditch and “jump” their bike to other side. It looked a little scary, I needed courage. I wanted to do that too. One of our favorite games was cops and robbers.  I needed courage to race as fast as I could, be confident in staying upright, and able to get out of the reach of the “cop”. I sure didn’t want to get caught!  I needed courage to take risks without being afraid to tackle all that was required to become a “great” cyclist. There was one thing going for me, I could look back to the times I had seen my friends ride their bikes. That simple act let me look forward to the possibilities of me joining them in the fun. Courage. Plain, simple, courage. The last blog I wrote about the courage Esther and Mordecai had when they faced King Xerxes and Haman, the nobleman. If you have not had a chance to read that, you may want to do it, so you can see there are a few ways God helps us find courage. This blog focuses on Elijah.

If you have time, read 1 Kings 16:29-18:45. The very first thing you read in 1 King 16:29 is that Ahab is the king over Israel for 22 years. LOOK at verse 30-33. “Ahab, son of Omri, did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him….he began to serve Baal and worship him…Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the ANGER OF THE LORD, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.”That is a very significant description. That is the man that Elijah was going to face. This is the world that Elijah grew up in.  There is really no mention in scripture of Elijah before we read about him in 1 Kings 17. It is fascinating that a man, even though he is a prophet, would have the courage to face someone as evil as Ahab. But Elijah did. He faced King Ahab and announced, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor raini n the next few years except at my word.”How did he do that? The only hint I found is that his faith was so strong, his name meant My God is Yahweh. (There goes the excuse that I can’t follow God because of all the evil that surrounds me…you know the one, everyone else is doing it, so it must be okay.)

Back to the pronouncement of drought. God knew how angry King Ahab would be. He told Elijah to go and hide in Kerith Ravine. God provided for Elijah by having ravens feed him, and he had water from the brook in the ravine for a period of time.  It eventually dried up. Water became scarce. The LORD came to Elijah and told him to go at once to Zarephath and stay with a widow there.  She would supply him with food (1 Kings 17:7-9). When Elijah sees this widow, he tells her to go and fix him something to eat. This widow was down to her last meal, literally. She only had enough to feed both her son and her one more meal. She considered it their last meal before they starved. That did not deter the man named MY GOD IS YAHWEH. No, he told her God would provide for them. She believed him and made bread for all three of them. This poor lady still had more to overcome. Her son became ill and one day stopped breathing. Her faith in Elijah’s God was shaken. She accused Elijah of causing the death of her son and she could not understand why his God had done this to her…she had done what Elijah had asked her to do after all.  Elijah was visibly shaken too, but not about who God was, but that this would happen to someone who had listened to God and cared for him. Elijah cried out to God and begged him to bring this boy back to life. God restored the boy’s life. This widow who had been shaken, declared Elijah a man of the true God.

Three and a half years passed when God told Elijah to go back and see King Ahab. Elijah challenged Ahab to a dual between God and Baal. Elijah’s goal was for all to see who the One True God was. You know the story, two altars built, two bulls killed to sacrifice, and the prophets of Baal called out to Baal to consume the bull.  The Baal prophets could not make it happen.  Elijah taunted them. He made fun of their God. After a full day of rituals, rituals that included slashing themselves with swords. Nothing happened. No response from Baal. It was time for Elijah to take the stage, front and center of the humiliated prophets of Baal and the Israelites who had turned to Baal worship. He built the altar, placed the bull on it, and had people pour so much water on it that it ran over the trenches that were dug around the altar. 1 Kings 18:36-37“At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”A great fire fell from heaven. So great that it consumed the bull, the wood, the stones, the soil AND the water… it consumed it ALL. As soon as that happened all the people fell on their face and cried, “The LORD, He is God!”(1 Kings 18:39).

Although this is a simplified analogy, Elijah had a bicycle that was too large for him. He could not “ride it” on his own. He needed to be able to peddle without falling, but to do that, he had to trust his Father to catch him, and eventually let his Father release the seat of the bike so he could go forward. When I was learning to ride my bike, I looked around and saw all of my friends riding bicycles. I knew that what seemed impossible to me, was possible because they were riding their bicycles and not falling down.  Elijah had a similar experience. When he asked the widow to feed him, he remembered he had seen God provide at Kerith Ravine. When he needed God to appear in a big way and consume the sacrifice, he remembered God had brought the widows son back from the dead (1 Kings 18:17-24).I propose to you that Elijah’s courage came from him looking around and seeing what all God had done in his life. Elijah had a keen understanding of where his help came from.

I have been reading through the book of Psalms. I have found so much encouragement there. Look at Psalms 77. David is looking at all the trouble he is surrounded with. This entire chapter suggests that he needed to look back in order to have the courage to look forward. That is exactly what Elijah did. His courage to stand before his enemy was only possible because he looked back at where he had been, and what God had done. It was then he had the courage to look to the future.

Where do you get your courage from? Are you looking back at all God has done for you or are you still begging to use training wheels? Do you feel you are about to ride down “the big slope at the ditch and need to jump out on the other side”? There are times that circumstances in life feel like that. We can’t imagine how we will get through them.  Stop. Look at what the Lord God has done. It is the same God that consumed the sacrifice of Elijah that is with you as you are on this scary ride of life. Just as my father was there watching me and helping me when I rode down the ditch the first time, your Father is with you right now as you are about to head down that big slope on the ditch of your life. Look at those around you that He has held and helped. Take courage that He is there beside you. Boldly name all you have seen God do in prayer and ask Him to give you the courage to face your bicycle ride of life.

Blessings – Cherie