If there is one thing we learn after we become followers of Christ, it’s that God’s ways are not our ways. If you quizzed a number of Christians on the key to power in the Christian life you might get responses like this: Knowledge of the Bible, powerful prayer life, ability to preach, a number of spiritual gifts, or a commanding personality able to juggle many different tasks at once.

However, when God wanted to prepare Elijah for mighty works he sent him into a remote place. “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there”. 1 Kings 17:2. We don’t typically think that being very alone, shut up to God Himself, is the key to power! It might seem like the opposite! Hidden? Alone? No way!

But I think that every servant God has used in a powerful way has had to spend considerable time alone with God, often repeatedly, or for long periods. Some of it was enforced by circumstances, because not many of us would choose that path. But Jesus repeatedly chose to spend time alone with His Father. We sometimes forget that His public ministry was only about 3 years but prior to that He lived for 30 years unnoticed, but he resorted often to the wilderness or the olive groves.

Paul had his Roman prisons and the letters he wrote continue to bless the church, perhaps way beyond what his audible preaching or teaching would have done. John had his Patmos, and because of that we have the book of Revelation. We need to absorb the fact that our real life is “Hid with Christ in God”, Col. 3:5

I would like to share a quote from F.B. Meyer in speaking of Elijah, “Acquiring spiritual power is impossible unless we hide from others in some deep ravine where we may absorb the power of the eternal God”.

Are we willing to get alone with God in this way and spend time in His Presence, away from the frantic activity of the world? If God has sidelined you for a time, are you drawing upon His Person for refreshment? We mistake activity for fruitfulness and must learn that the branches draw all of their sustenance from the Vine. “No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the Vine”. John 15:4. All of the fruits of the Spirit can be produced on a sickbed or in isolation. God desires inward fruit first, then He will produce outward fruit.

Pastor Terry