Key verse: Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing (1 Kings 18:21).
INTRODUCTION
Choice plays a big part in our lives.
For instance, we can get anything we want, from anywhere in the world, whenever we want it.
We don’t just have the local shops with Coles a deli and a newsagent. We can buy anything we want, from any continent in the world over the Net – and probably have it delivered to our doorstep within hours (If we’re prepared to pay the price).
Choice means - We don’t just have TV, we have Foxtel with 100 channels and more.
Choice means - We can choose to travel to almost any part of the world – and all of us here could afford to do it if we really wanted to.
Choice means you enter a Google search online for just about anything – and get a list of half a million sites you can check out!
We can choose our religion, our political leaders and our lifestyle.
Choice plays a big part in our lives – perhaps even bigger than we realise. Peter Drucker is a management and business leadership guru. Once he was asked what, out of the many advances we have made in recent years, what would our generation be remembered for. He said this ....
“The defining feature of our generation is not technology, medicine, invention or discovery. The defining feature of our generation is choice, and we are woefully unprepared for it” (Peter Drucker).
We have greater freedom of choice now than at any other time in history – and if we are to believe Drucker, we are woefully unprepared for it.
Is that how you feel when you’re faced with a decision? Woefully unprepared? Uncertain of what’s right – which way to go?
Well the good news is, you don’t have to limp through life paralysed by uncertainty and indecision. There is help available from the Lord for you to confidently make the right choice every time.
And we see these principles in this account of Elijah on Mt Carmel.
1. CHOOSE GOD
Elijah’s experience on Mount Carmel makes it quite plain that in making any choice, there is really only one choice.
"How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him" (2 Kings 18:21).
If you didn’t get it, let me spell it out for you - - the choice is this – Baal or God? Follow something that’s not God – or follow God. Boiled down to its simplest form, this is the essence of every decision you will ever make.
And as you face a decision there is one simple way to get it right every time – choose God. In other words, get God’s perspective. And how do you choose God – how do you get God’s perspective?
You immerse yourself in the Word of God – the Bible – and you allow it to shape your life.
Illustration: The story of Jessica’s birth.
Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them (Psalm 127:3-5a).
Rick Warren points out in the Purpose Driven Life (p187), that many people get into trouble because they base their choices on unreliable authorities. And he identifies four ...
i) Culture says - “everyone is doing it”.
ii) Tradition says - “We’ve always done it that way”.
iii) Reason says - “It seemed logical at the time”.
iv) Emotion says - “It felt right”.
But each of these human methods are flawed by our sin because of the fall of humanity. So we need a perfect standard that will lead us in the right direction. And only God’s word meets that criteria.
"Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him” (Proverbs 30:5).
And again ....
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness
(2 Timothy 3:16).
You see, God’s Word plus culture (everyone is doing it), is not God. And a decision that blends the two is bound to be a bad choice.
God’s word plus tradition (we’ve always done it that way), is not God. God’s Word plus reason (it seemed right) is not God. God’s Word plus emotion (it feels right), is not God. And a decision that blends any combination of these will be a bad choice.
But you can make the right decision every time by choosing God’s Word above all else. Paul said ...
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:1-2).
You can make the right choices every time when you choose God – when your walk is directed by God’s Word, he will show you the right way.
2. PROVE GOD
And as we face choices each day it’s also helpful to ask a question like, “Am I trusting God in this decision?”
In other words, you can make the right decisions every time if you are also committed to proving God. When you commit to choosing God and proving God – the giant of indecision will be defeated in your life.
Let me explain. If the path your following takes no faith at all on your part – then you are outside the will of God and your choices are going to reflect that.
We live by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God .... (Galatians 2:20b).
We are called to live by faith – but often our choices are made with no reference to God at all. No wonder indecision can grow to be a giant in our lives.
Living by faith means that trust in God is to permeate every corner of our lives. And we can make the right choices every time when we live by faith – and prove God in the process.
And what a classic example of this Elijah provides for us. As he stands there before the people on Mt Carmel he says ...
... you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire--he is God." Then all the people said, "What you say is good" (2 Kings 18:24)
I want you to notice, at this point, just who Elijah is confronting. He does not challenge King Ahab’s, Baal worshipping, Phoenician wife Jezebel; his fight isn’t against the pagan worshippers of other gods. Elijah’s challenge is put to God’s own people – the Israelites.
The point is this ... People come to see God through his activity among his own people and through their actions and their life choices. A life dedicated to real faith in action is a life of powerful witness.
God wants your decision making to be a witness to others of his power and character.
(Pause)
So you can make the right choices every time if you ask the question “Am I trusting God in this decision?”
God wants you to trust him – and he rewards those who do with clear direction.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).
God can’t put it any plainer than that! If, in our decision making, we set out to prove God – if we are committed to displaying God’s character in our lives - then he will show us the right choice.
He wants to demonstrate his power to the world. And he wants to do it through you and your choices. He did it through Elijah – now he wants to do it in your life.
As we read on we see that ....
Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD--he is God! The LORD--he is God!" (1 Kings 18:38-39).
God can bring about spiritual revival through your faith filled decisions. That’s how important this is.
When Elijah chose to live by faith, revival broke out!
People’s lives were being transformed. That’s how important it is for you and me to set out to prove God in our choices. Your decisions must demonstrate your faith in God – and when they do your Loving Heavenly Father promises to give you the right answers. And people will come to know God when they see his power released in your life through faith filled decision making.
You can make the right choices every time when you choose God – when your walk is directed by God’s Word, he will show you the right way.
And you can make the right choices every time when you set out to prove God – When your choices demonstrate your reliance on God in faith, he will show you the right way.
3. SERVE GOD
And as we face choices each day it’s also helpful to ask a question like, “Am I serving God in this decision?”
Elijah put this challenge to God’s people on Mt Carmel. He said ...
If the LORD is God, follow him;(2 Kings 18:21)
You see, you can make the right decisions every time when you set out to serve God. When your choices demonstrate your commitment to humbly and obediently serving God, he will show you the right way.
God doesn’t want you to stumble through live in the dark, unsure of the way ahead. God saved you to serve him, so he wants you to know the way forward. The Bible says,
It is he who saved us and chose us for his holy work, not because we deserved it but because that was his plan (2 Timothy 1:9 TEV).
God’s plan is for you to do his holy work. As we make our choices we need to keep that in mind.
Peter adds this ...
But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night and day difference he made for you – from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted (1 Peter 2:9 Msg)
How many of your decisions “tell others of the night and day difference he made for you”? This is the reason God saved you – that your life, and your choices will tell his story.
Many Believers today are wandering around full of doubts and uncertainty. And in doing so their lives are fruitless. If only they would choose to serve God in their decisions, he would show them the right way forward into a productive and useful life.
“Do my choices serve God?” It’s a good question to ask when you’re trying to find the right way forward. Jesus gives us clear direction on this. He said,
“Your attitude [must] be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life” (Matthew 20:28).
CONCLUSION
Friends you don’t have to limp through life paralysed by uncertainty and indecision. There is help available from the Lord for you to confidently make the right choice every time.
The Lord doesn’t want you limping through life – like the Baal worshippers on Mt Carmel that day, indecisive, uncertain and incapable of making the right choices.
You can confidently make the right choice every time if you determine to choose God, to prove God and to serve God in your decisions.
