Michael Phelps is an extraordinary athlete.
This week we saw what an extraordinary athlete Michael Phelps has become. To put his accomplishments into perspective, earlier this week Chris Chase of Yahoo Sports wrote, "If Michael Phelps were a country (Phelpsylvania, perhaps) he'd be tied for third overall in gold medals won.In the total medal count, Phelps would be tied fortwelth overall with the Netherlands.India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Mexico and Bangladesh (approximate combined populationof 2.1 billion) have earned a total of four Olympic medals in Beijing. Phelps (approximate populationof 1) has five.Excluding the United States and Australia, the rest of the world has earned a total of five gold medals in the men's and women's swimming competition. Phelps -- well, you get the picture."
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Five-facts-about-Michael-Phelps-five-gold-medal?urn=oly,100463
And what about his twelve thousand calorie a day diet? Breakfast is three fried-egg sandwiches with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions, and mayonnaise, two cups of coffee,an omelettecontaining five eggs,a bowl of grits, a porridge of coarsely ground corn,three slices of French toast with powdered sugar on top andthree chocolate chip pancakes. He could eat giant pancakes for free over at Charlie Parker's diner!
Lunch consists of awhole packet of enriched pasta, two large ham and cheese sandwiches on white bread with loads of mayo and a 1,000 calorie energy drink.
Dinner isanother packet of enriched pasta,an entire pizza,and another 1,000 calorie energy drink. Phelps said, "Eat, sleep and swim, that's all I can do." He could eat a giant pizza for free over at the Pizza Machine. He really needs to move to Springfield!.
I looked up his training regime on the internet just to get a picture of how an Olympic hero prepares himself to wineight gold medals. If you want a copy of his workout, write your e-mail address on the communication card and circle it.I’ll send it to you. You don’t become an Olympic hero by some genetic fluke. We’re always looking for shortcuts or for some secret to get us on the fast track to greatness. It doesn’t work that way. Never has and never will.
God's training regime for greatness in our lives.
This morning I want to reveal the divine pattern, the divine training regime of how God cultivates greatness in our lives. I really feel sorry for anyone out on the golf course this morning.
We all know that Elijah was one of the greatest prophets of old. But right here in 1 Kings 17:1 (NIV) is where it all begins."Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbea in Gilead, said to Ahab, 'As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.' "
A quick note if you don’t mind. Last week we sawjust how godless King Ahab and how godless a nation the Northern kingdom of Israel had become. 1 King 16:29-33 (NIV) says of Ahab,"In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him."
I wonder, do you ever find yourself grieving the godlessness of our leaders, of our public institutions, of our schools, or our society at large? Like Ahab, our culture considers it trivial to break every single commandment of God. How entertaining to kill people in movies, laugh at homosexuality, and pleasure our bodies at the expense of our health with marijauna, alcohol, tobacco, fatty foods, overeating, and sexual immorality. How convenient to habitually abuse the Sabbath, tell lies, lust after material things, and lust after unholy images.
How long do you think the Lord will tolerate our godlessness? How long will he endure our provoking his holy and just wrath? Are we wise to ignore God’s anger? Are we wise to trivialize his will, his commandments, and his law? Oh wait, we cannot talk about that because it makes us uncomfortable in our sins.
Our spiritual edge has been dulled by the ungodliness of our age. What is God’s plan for getting us back on track? What is the divine pattern of God’s working? It’s always the same.
The divine pattern of God's working is always the same.
Elijah boldly confronts the godlessness of King Ahab. But Elijah wasn’t yet ready for a showdown of Olympic proportions. Passion for godliness and pure ambition is never enough. In Elijah’s case, God had to first build Elijah into man of courage, character, and truth. And thisnever happens overnight. Character is for the slow cooker, not the microwave.
Thus we read in 1 Kings 17:2-6 (NIV),"Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah:'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.'So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook."
What does God do to prepare Elijah? He sends him off into obscurity. He hides him from the public eye. This is very important. God makes Elijah dependent on his grace and daily provisions. It’s just like Israel’s provision in the wilderness. Manna in the morning, quail for dinner, and water from the rock. None of this occurs without the daily miraculous intervention of God.
Elijah? Drinking from a brook. Fed by ravens day and night. Living in a drought-stricken, spiritually parched land among godless leaders and idolatrous people.
Our spiritual growth happens just like Elijah's did.
It’s the same for you and me. We're not the exception. It rains every day, but in reality we have been in an unending drought for decades. A drought of godlessness, a drought of people called by Christ’s very name. We are a bunch of Christians who are trivializing God’s commandments. I am talking about the church andabout Christians. For those of you who so venture to resist the sin of our age in orderto be a light shining in the darkness,for those of you who so choose to rise about the mediocrity and spiritual apathy of professing Christians,it will first be a long quiet journey into obscurity. It will be a journey of daily depending on God’s grace to sustain you.
•You will pray, but not sense immediate answers
•You will cry out in seeming futility, and at times you will walk alone.
•You will have doubts. You will wrestle with anxiety, fear, depression, and personal loss.
•Those closest to you will not share your values, beliefs, spiritual priorities, or convictions. You will walk about like an alien or a stranger. You’ll be mocked, even persecuted.
•You will find yourself questioning God, wondering if life is worth living, wondering if you should go on, wondering if God will ever show up, and wondering if there willever be a revival of love for the one true God.
•You will want to give up and quit a million times over.
And while you're persevering there, drinking from the brook, being fed by the ravens, and enduring the scorching drought all around,there you will find God forging your character, molding you to become person of greatness, and transforming you in Christ’s image.
James 1:2-4 (NIV) says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
2 Peter 1:2-4 (NIV) says, "Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."
Are you feeling tired? Worn out? Frustrated? Alone? Depressed? Ignored? Forgotten? Overlooked? Anxious? Are you tired of being fed by ravens and drinking from the brook? Are you ready for the drought to end? Are you fed up with the godlessness of those called by God’s name and the godlessness of society?
God has you right where he wants you to be. He is fortifying your character. He is sharpening your spiritual edge, which up to now has been dulled by the ungodliness of our age to the point of uselessness. God has you on a divine training regime. Your diet is God’s grace. Your daily workout is to live a life of faith and to wait on God’s timing. I’m sorry, but there isn’t any other way. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
And right when you think you have reached your limit, when you think your heart, mind, body, and soul can withstand no more,God will present you with an opportunity to rise to greatness. But more on that next week!
Here is a preview of next week.
1 Kings 17:7-18 (NIV), "Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him:'Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.' So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, 'Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?'As she was going to get it, he called, 'And bring me, please, a piece of bread.' 'As surely as the Lord your God lives,' she replied, 'I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.' "
"Elijah said to her, 'Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.' "
"She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, 'What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?' "