05/24/2024 – The Divine Confrontation
1 Kings 17: And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
God is patient beyond our understanding. But God’s forbearance has a limit, lest God’s people think they can forever defy the righteousness of God. The next level of God’s love when there is no response to His forbearance is confrontation. Most people do not like confrontation- they would rather avoid it. God did not give up on His purpose for salvation. When the people failed, God put His love into action. He raised a prophet named Elijah. He confronted king Ahab. He would have to face the consequences of his sin. There would be no more rain. People would have nothing to eat.
How we need to be confronted by the word of God to understand that we depend completely on His love, and that we need to respond to His love with our undivided love in order to live, in order for God’s love to achieve its purpose in us: to save us! To give us life!
Love confronts with the intention to heal. There is confrontation to vent, to defeat the other person. That is not the confrontation God commands. He does it to bring people back to Himself. When you must confront, do it in love, for the purpose of healing.