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At one occasion Prophet Elijah was fearless and faithful. The next instance he was a frightened, fearful and forlorn man.  What an extreme picture of contrast in a man of God and a man of faith.  “Elijah was a man just like us”(Jam. 5:17), yet he demonstrated great faith in his life especially in his prayer to God for fire and for rain. 

Elijah announced to King Ahab that there will be a drought and by the third year, the word of the LORD came to him to tell the King that God will bring rain to the land.  In the interim there was a face-off between Elijah, the prophet of the God of Israel, and the 450 false prophets of Baal.  Elijah was the fearless and faithful prophet of God: 1 against 450.  Incredible.  Impossible.  Inconceivable.  At this demonstration of his faith in the One True God, Elijah challenged the false prophets to call on Baal to set on fire a sacrifice on the altar; he will call on the God of Israel.  The prophets of Baal were a total failure.  Then the miraculous power of the God of Israel was revealed to all.  Elijah got the people to pour water on the altar to ensure that the sacrifice will not naturally ignite because of the drought.  He prayed and the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the water and the sacrifice.  The people turned back to God.  Elijah then directed Ahab’s attention to the upcoming rain.  God sent rain when Israel repented.

However, after this great victory, we find Elijah running for his life and even telling the LORD: “Take my life”.  Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, had threatened to kill him.  The picture of contrast is startling – from being victorious, bold and confident “in the LORD” to being defeated, weak and fearful.  But the all-loving God ministered to Elijah, not through the wind, earthquake or fire but through “a gentle whisper”.  God understands his humanness, vulnerability and frailty.  Elijah was not perfect but he had been faithful and fruitful.  On this occasion, God lifted him back on his feet and restored him to a continuing fruitful ministry as a prophet of God.  We should have no illusions about ourselves; neither should we expect perfection in our church leaders.  We are reminded that no matter how gifted and used of God, leaders are just earthen vessels with feet of clay and prone to fall (Acts 14:15, 2 Cor. 4:7).  We serve God and continue to remain faithful and fruitful.