Elijah Was a Man Just Like Us

"Elijah was a man just like us" (James 5:17a NIV)

• Elijah was human, just like we are
• The same Elijah that God used to perform many miracles
• Not a minor prophet, but one of the “supermen” among prophets
• When Jesus wanted to see some old friends from heaven, it was Elijah and Moses who appeared before Him on the mount

Remember Elijah?
• He prayed for the rain to be held back and for 3 ½ years…and it did
• He prayed for the rain to come…and it did
• He asked for the last of a woman’s flour during the drought…and her jar never emptied
• He prayed for her dead son…and he came back to life
• Elijah talked with God
• Elijah walked with God
• Elijah argued with God
• Elijah did not die…he was caught straight up into heaven by a fiery chariot
• When Elisha used the cloak of Elijah…the waters of the Jordan River parted
• And just at the height of his greatest achievement…Elijah ran for his life and hid in a valley
• He complained that he alone served God…that nobody else was on his side

So I find it comforting to read that Elijah was a man just like us. Often in our Christian lives we struggle with the feelings of inadequacies. We think that we are not good enough for God to use in such miraculous ways. But Elijah was a man just like us. We get frustrated when it seems that we have worked so hard for God and nobody even cares. But Elijah was a man just like us. When one negative statement brings us crashing down from our mountain top experience and we find ourselves in the lowest valley of our lives. Elijah was a man just like us. When we stop to think about that one simple statement, we can better understand how God works and who He works through. People just like us.

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