Disabled List

This Major League Baseball season has been tough on me. I've had to watch my favorite team battle through the first half of the season being devastated by injuries. This team, which was predicted by some to win the World Series, is now near the bottom of its division. They desperately need their All-Star players to return so that they can compete to win their division. These players aren't helping the team win by sitting on the bench.

Unfortunately our world is full of Christians who are on the disabled list. These are people who might have been hurt or let down by a church, another Christian or by a circumstance that they didn't think was fair. They might have once been a great Christian servant, but now are content to stay in the clubhouse and watch as their team battles to win the game.

God desires for each of us to be active players in the world. He wants to take us off the DL and put us back in the game. In the above verse, Elijah is on the DL and doesn't want to play anymore. He has been a part of one of God's largest displays of power, but now is tired and running scared from his enemies. He sits down and tells God that he wants to quit. But God sends an angel to strengthen him and get him back in the game. Elijah gets back up, comes off the DL and goes on to do many more great things for God.