“When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, ‘Are you he that troubles Israel?’”
— 1 Kings 18:17

Sometimes the people of God are accused of causing troubles in this world. The reality is often the very opposite.

We see this in the example that occurs in the great encounter that takes place between Elijah and Ahab. Here was this wicked king, Ahab, who was in some ways a man who had done great things for Israel. But in spite of all of the blessings that he had brought upon the land politically, he was one who was bringing the nation ultimately into total destruction because of his furthering Israel’s apostasy. Because of that apostasy, God had caused a three-year drought, which He proclaimed through His servant Elijah.

Now Ahab meets Elijah again and says to him, “Are you he that troubles Israel?” How often down through history has this been the case—where ungodly magistrates or judges or kings have been confronted with the preachers of God, men of righteousness, who have preached the word of God in the midst of an ungodly time—and they have accused them of troubling the nation?

But Elijah said, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and you have followed the Baals.” Today, we have forgotten the Law of God and forsaken the God of Sinai who gave us the law and the God of Calvary who gave us His Son. The righteous are not the troublers of the land, but the unrighteous. We must pray for a great revival.

Heavenly Father, in this world which calls good evil and evil good, help us to be faithful to You who are truly good. Give us strength for today to do that which You call good…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE STAND FOR
HIM IN A WORLD THAT REJECTS HIM.