Be Bold in the Lord and FEAR NOT!

1Kings 17:1 NKJV  And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”

 Now that is a BOLD statement.  Elijah, a prophet of God, is standing before King Ahab, a profane king who set up the worship of Baal and other gods in the temple who was more rebellious, spiteful and did more to hurt and provoke the Lord God than any other king before him (1Kings 16:33), and boldly proclaims that it will not rain again until he (Elijah) says it will.  This isn’t exactly the way to “win friends and influence people”.  Standing before the most powerful man of the day and delivering him bad news isn’t the best way to get a promotion.  Let alone delivering him a message on behalf of God, whom he obviously hates, and involving yourself in the equation.  This is grounds for immediate termination of the most severe kind.

Notice that here in this episode, it doesn’t say or indicate in any way that Elijah, was fearful.  It doesn’t even allude that he was the slightest bit anxious or hesitated in the least.  I have no way of knowing for sure, but I’m sure Elijah had a few butterflies in his stomach as he approached King Ahab’s throne that day.  Yet, he came off cool as a cucumber in his delivery.  How could he do that?  How could he stand before the king and deliver that kind of message so boldly?  Because, Elijah was confident that he had heard from God.

Elijah knew the voice of God.  What’s more, Elijah knew the character of God.  He knew God is faithful and true.  He knew God doesn’t lie and that the message was true.  And He knew that the God who asked him to deliver this message was with Him.  Being convinced of these truths encouraged and emboldened Elijah so he could shake off any butterflies in his stomach and fearlessly and confidently do what God asked Him to do.

You too can live and walk with that kind of confidence.  It’s been truly said, “Faith begins where the will of God is known.”  And the beauty is we can know His will.  Just like Elijah knew the character and nature of God, you can learn it to by spending time with Him in His Word and in prayer.  As you do, you will learn to more clearly recognized His voice and His guidance in every aspect of your life and become more aware of His indwelling presence in you as a Believer in every situation.  Knowing those simple truths doesn’t mean you won’t experience any butterflies in your belly, but it means they won’t grow into paralyzing fear and you can boldly trust Him in every situation and FEAR NOT!