This is the last in this series on who takes the initiative in seeking to either do God’s will or to attempt a God inspired event or act, God or Us. All too often we fail to take the initiative and often believe that if God wants us to do something he would tell us. If you haven’t read the first three articles, please do so before reading this last one.

In these articles on “Who Takes The Initiative” I have been trying to build a case for not waiting for God to command us to do something but rather to take the initiative in desiring God to approve what we see is a current or pending need. I have encountered many believers who have come to the false understanding that if God wants us to do something he will tell us. The point I made in the second article was that God created us to be like him and therefore he gave Adam the first task of naming the animals. God wanted us to take the initiative in creating and managing the world we are in. If you haven’t read the first two articles please do so before proceeding. 

As Christians, we want God to move in our lives on a daily basis, not just when we respond to Jesus’ offer of being born again.  The problem: who is suppose to initiate? Is God suppose to tell us when he plans to move or are we suppose to ask him to move? Truthfully, I think it is both!

It’s so easy in our current world environment to assume our observation and analysis of current events are solid when, in fact, they often are not. We start taking sides about who is right and who is wrong about the same facts that we end up hating people who we once embraced.

We have been exploring the significance of Elijah the prophet of Israel in 1 Kings 17. We are dealing with the events and repercussions of Elijah’s prophecy that there would be no rain in Israel until he prayed again. The drought went on for three and a half years, which enraged king Ahab who was a most wicked man. Our title focuses on “When The Brook Dries Up,” so I want to ask the question, “How Do We Handle” when God’s provision is taken away? How we answer this question will, in a large part, determine whether we move forward in our relationship with God or as some have coined the phrase, “Backslide” in that relationship. Please read the first two articles before proceeding.

We are looking into the life of Elijah to learn principles of how to walk strongly with God in a broken and twisted world. We always need to remember that the brokenness of the world shaped much of what we expect from a good life and often those beliefs are misleading and also very harmful in walking with God. If you haven’t read the first article on this subject please do so before reading this one.

I am always amazed when I learn that todays Christians hardly ever read from the Old Testament, other than the books of Psalms or Proverbs. There is such a wealth of information about how and why God moved in individuals and groups of people, not to mention the nation of Israel. There is a reason why the Old Testament is so much larger than the New Testament. One reason is that it can guide us in our own personal walk because it gives us a detailed history of people’s lives.

Today I will discuss a subject in which most believers fail to engage: “Spiritual Warfare.” When I say “Spiritual Warfare” I mean taking a consistent stand against evil. I’m not talking about acting like some demon hunter or lunatic that causes other Christians to cringe just being around them, but real Christians acting like real lovers of God. If you haven’t read the first six articles you need to do so before reading on as these articles are linked in a special way and sequence.

I witness to many Christians trying to live a life of faith in a lopsided way by just learning more and more information about God without actually changing how they live. When I became a true believer I knew I had to change not just my thinking but the way I was living my life. Now, 45+ years later, I am still in the same place…..learning and engaging in the changes that Christ compels me to.

When I was a young boy I dreamed and played “Army” with my friends. As young boys we played such games because we had heroes with character traits that we admired. John Wayne was one of the people that we looked up to as a “man’s man”. He portrayed courage in the face of fear and valor when the battle was raging.