THE LORD’S ATTITUDE TO THE WEAK

Isaiah 35:3 says strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.

After Elijah had executed 450 prophets of Baal, Jezebel arose and sent dead threats to him. Immediately Elijah received this in 1 Kings 19:1-8, he began to run for his life. The mighty man of God who had just called down fire from heaven was threatened by a woman and He began to shake –his faith in God grew weak. He ran to God and began to complain. He began to boast to God how he had been faithful and all that. He prayed that the Lord should kill him. Instead of killing Elijah, He sent him food. It was shocking that Elijah who had been praying for death saw food and ate – one will expect him to reject the food but he didn’t. After He ate and drank, He slept. The Lord sent an angel again to wake him up and eat and the prophet ate and drank again and strength returned. After strength returned ,by the time we get to 1 Kings 19:18 we see God pointing out to Elijah that there were at least 7,000 men who had not bowed their knees to any other God ; from that day Elijah never boasted to God about his faithfulness again. In this story, we learn of God’s attitude to the weak. When the faith of Elijah grew weak instead of rebuking him strongly or blaming him or discarding him and picking up someone else or making fun of him or get angry at him, He simply fed him. The Lord is not a user and He looks after His servants.

We need to all learn from this story. The moment of weakness is not the time to blame a person or rebuke them or make fun of them. It is not a time to point out to them why they failed. It is a time to help them back to their feet. Just as the Lord showed pity on Elijah, so also should we show pity on those who are weak or have failed not blame them for their failure. When people fail or backslide as a result of their own doing or disobedience instead telling them that serves them right, let’s first help them get back to their feet before later in a wise away advice them. When someone is low in self esteem, it is not the time to show off your own high self esteem. When a man of God makes a mistake, it is not a time to call our friends and gossip about them. It is not the time to make fun of them or begin to talk bad about them. It is a time to be sober and cry to God for mercy over their soul. Any one party to making fun of men or women of God when they fall is toying with God’s fire .James 5:19 says if anyone wanders from the truth bring him back. God was disappointed in Elijah but He did not show it to him at his weak moments. When your husband or wife makes a mistake or has a weakness or two, it is not the time to compare him to other husbands or her to other wives. It is not the time to remind him or her how she always makes the same mistake. It does not help! When our children comes back with results that are below our expectations instead of calling them names , let’s put measures into place to ensure that they will do better in the next term or semester. Another thing is He kept on feeding Elijah until He received the strength. Isaiah 35:3 says strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. It is wickedness to make a weak hands weaker and feeble knee feebler. When you see people on the path to destruction instead of wishing that God will destroy them, lets pray for them. Remember, only the merciful will obtain mercy from God- Matthew 5:7. If you have ever made fun of anyone who has fallen or made mistakes, go to God and ask Him forgiveness.

ACTION POINT: Look for someone weak today and offer them words of