00:00:05
S1: If you could choose someone from the Bible other than Jesus to sit down and share some life lessons with you today, who would it be? Moses. Joseph. David. Maybe Peter or Paul. Today at the Radio Backyard Fence, a best of broadcast with Max Lucado. Life lessons from a man on the run. A pursued saint who was rough around the edges. Who didn't live by opinion polls. He lived under intense persecution. There was tension all around him depressed, discouraged, struggling with the chaos and the culture and the anxiety within. That sounds a lot like our day and age, doesn't it? We're going to talk about that person today with Max, who is America's pastor. He had a book come out in August when we first aired this program about staying steady or steadfast in unsteady days, and I think we are smack dab in the middle of that right now. Who is this biblical friend who wants to speak into our lives? You'll find out straight ahead on the program from the heart to the heart for the heart, online@chris.org. Let me thank our team, Ryan McConaughey doing all things technical. Tricia is our producer. Nobody's answering the phones today because our broadcast is recorded. So if you hear a phone number, disregard that. And if you hear me say that his new book comes out tomorrow, you can disregard that as well, because this first aired back in August. Max is America's best selling inspirational author. He's known as America's Pastor, entered ministry in 1978. Whew. That's a long time ago. Has served in Miami, Florida, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, San Antonio, Texas. He is still teaching. Minister of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, where he and his wife Dannielynn live and are featured. Resource today is titled Unbreakable Courage. You'll find out more about it at. Chris Fabry live.org. Max Lucado, how are you doing today?
00:02:11
S2: Chris. I'm doing great. It's so, so good to hear your voice. Uh, deeply appreciate the opportunity to have a conversation.
00:02:21
S1: Same here. And you and I have chats in some tough life struggles, flooding of the Guadalupe or the pandemic. But this seems, you know, the struggle of life. That seems to be the lane that you are made for. Is that true?
00:02:37
S2: I enjoy, um, being an encouragement to people and I love to, uh, create messages that would help somebody just navigate the current storm. Now, as to how effective I am at that, Chris, I don't know, but I feel my heart drawn toward people when they're in the midst of a of a personal challenge. And I appreciate the opportunity to just lift their spirits and give them a word of hope.
00:03:08
S1: You know, you're writing, as I've read you through the years is a lot like, uh, sorry for the comparison, but a lot like John Grisham. It's like, I'll read Grisham and Grisham has written some good books and some not so good books, but I'll get into Grisham novel and it's like, how does he do this? How does he tell this story? Because I'm reading along. It just pulls me in. And when I got into this, this book, this new one, Unbreakable Courage, it was the same way. It's like you're, you're dealing with a person from the Bible and then you're saying, you know, you and your wife went down the rapids together in this kayak and you're telling this funny story. It's like it all weaves together. How in the world do you do that? Or how did you learn how to do that?
00:03:50
S2: Well, I agree about John Grisham. I love his books. Uh, in fact, just the other day I was thinking, I need to pull down his newest one and. And give it a look. Extraordinary writer. I always loved writing. I never have considered myself a great writer, but I can put thoughts together and I love working with words. I love to self edit. Um, I am a bit of an introvert, which plays well, uh, as one who spends a lot of time staring at a computer screen. Um, and I love, I love the idea of writing. I love writing something that will long outlive me and that will speak to people in a very personal and tender moment in their lives. Everything about writing I really enjoy. I don't like the copyediting part, so I don't do much of that. If I get in, if I have punctuation mistakes, It's not my fault, but I. Otherwise, I love every aspect of the. Of the writing world.
00:05:02
S1: I could tell. And. And when you are moved by words, the. Were moved by the word to want to do that same thing for somebody else makes an awful lot of sense to me when when you've been changed by it. Right.
00:05:16
S2: Mhm. It really does. It really does. When when you have gone through an experience, uh, it, it can, it can be of great asset to you. You know, there's a scripture that says that we can comfort others with the same comfort that God used to comfort us. And when we go through an experience, a challenging experience, it's wise for us to think, okay, God is allowing this to happen to me, to shape me, and also to equip me so that someday when I'm talking to someone who's going through this very same challenge, I will have a word to say. There's nothing more powerful than for somebody to hear. You know, I went through the same thing. Here's what I learned. It was tough, but I made it for for you to be able to say that to someone else. That is a true treasure. Yeah.
00:06:11
S1: I think that's the power of what you do, Max. And that is when I read you. When I hear you too, when I hear your voice, it's like you're putting an arm around me and saying, okay, I know that this is a struggle. If things are going to be okay, this is going to be all right. You're going to get through this and that's what you've done. But you've used a someone that I wasn't expecting from the Old Testament, a man named Elijah. I don't remember you talking about calling down fire on the on Mount Carmel or wherever that was. I don't remember you doing that or prophesying that it's not going to rain for a certain amount of time there in Texas. So you didn't go through exactly what Elijah went through.
00:06:53
S2: Not the same. Do you think Elijah's well known in in our generation? Is he is he right up there with other, you know, Peter and and Paul or Mary, or do you feel he's a character that needs to be rediscovered?
00:07:10
S1: I think he needs to be rediscovered because I think of first thing I thought of when I knew it was Elijah, I thought of John the Baptist, and then I thought about Jesus on the cross and them saying, oh, he's he's calling Elijah. You know, and then thinking about the Mount of Transfiguration, all of this. You're right. Exactly. Why? Why was it Moses and Elijah that came to speak with Jesus? And why did Jesus allow his three closest friends to see that? So I, I think you're on to something here.
00:07:43
S2: I don't hear Elijah discussed a lot. Uh, I can't say that I have been a student of Elijah my entire life, but I got interested in his, um, journey about ten years ago, just prior to Covid. Uh, because that's when we began hearing so many people talk about the mental health issues. Uh, probably there was lots of conversation before that, but that's when I tuned in. And, um, I was looking for a character in Scripture who would relate to the world in which we live. And of course, there are so many, but Elijah came to mind because Elijah, uh, was actually outnumbered. He didn't just feel outnumbered, but he was outnumbered. He had a miraculous power that, uh, was used to rescue the children of Israel. And then he had times of the deepest and darkest despondency, a depression of sorts. And then, uh, he is recognized in the New Testament, as you pointed out, as a truly important person, because he appears with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration. And when James talks about the prophet Elijah and uses him as an illustration of one who prayed, he points out, remember, he was human, just as we are. He was a man just as we are. And so there's this concerted effort in Scripture to present a person who was truly outnumbered, yet experienced the power of God, yet had some really tough times. And he was human, just as we are. And his world is so marked by miracles, by divine interventions, by extraordinary events, Uh, that that he brings hope to us in the day in which we live.
00:09:53
S1: And even in those downtimes, even in the real depressing times when everything was against him to let go of his hold on, on God. He, he held steadfastly, he held, or God held him, or both were going at the same time. I think there is something here. Max Lucado is with us. He has written a new book, Unbreakable Courage Strong Faith in an Age of Anxiety, chaos and Exhaustion. Is that where you are now? If so, there is real biblical encouragement for your soul coming up straight ahead on Chris Fabry Live. Max Lucado wants you and me to consider the life of faith, the courage of Elijah, and we're going to do that today at the Radio Backyard Fence. If you go to Chris Fabry live.org, you'll see Unbreakable Courage, the new book by Max that releases tomorrow. Let's go to Chris Fabry live.org. One of the lessons of Elijah is the silence, the solitude. Max says the prophet needed to grow comfortable in isolation. Purposeful silence and solitude are basic courses in Unbreakable Courage 101. But in our modern world, we often avoid the stillness. Headphones. Earbuds. Social media. Society has a constant chatter to it. Yet God's invitation is compelling. Be still and know that I am God. The message translates this command. Step out of the traffic. Take a long, loving look at me. Your high God and that shades of A.W. Tozer who said, get out of the world's parade, step out of the world's parade. So, Max, why is that so important for us today to catch a vision of.
00:11:56
S2: Yeah. Great question. Great question Chris. Um, just in case somebody has forgotten the context of Elijah, uh, it takes place in, uh, eight, eight century BC, um, ancient Israel. And it is one of the darkest eras in the history of Israel. Uh, the children of Israel have long since abandoned the God of Moses, the God of Abraham, the God of David. And it's tragic because it was just 100 years earlier that they built the temple, a golden era of faith in the history of the Hebrew people. And yet, as it can happen, uh, the faith was not transmitted from from generation to generation. And there is a series of scriptures in the book of First Kings that describe the kings themselves. And each one, uh, is their story. The paragraph is concluded with the line, he was more evil, he was more evil than the king before him, or he was more evil than there had ever been of a king in it. It was just one sad, sorry epitaph after another. And this went on for decades. And by the time Elijah appears, the children of Israel have turned away from the one true God, the God of Moses, Abraham, David. They have turned instead to worship Baal BAAL and Asherah a SHERAH In tragedy upon tragedy comes upon the children of Israel. They are not only worshipping false gods, but they are engaging in child sacrifice and temple prostitution. All in the name of religion. It is a dark, dark time in the nation of Israel. Well, how does God respond to this time? Well, he responds in the form of a man by the name of Elijah. He just seems to appear out of nowhere. Chris, we don't know his background. We don't know how he came to have this deep faith, but he appears, uh, on the pages of Scripture as he walks into the throne room of the vilest of the vile kings and queens, Ahab and Jezebel. You know, there's a reason we don't name our kids Ahab and Jezebel. These were terrible people and they sponsored 850 prophets, false prophets. They paid their salaries. They put food on their tables. So this is why we can see that Elijah is much like the world in which we live today. He was outnumbered. He was surrounded, surrounded. Everywhere he went. There were false prophets. We feel like that sometimes today. Everywhere we turn, we see challenges and issues and struggles. So Elijah was God's answer to this difficult time. And part of the way God trained Elijah was isolation. Uh, after after he was, he confronted Ahab and Jezebel after he declared a drought, uh, God sent him into, um, a remote ravine called Cherith. ERITAKERITH. And there he was, alone in isolation for what seems to be about a year. And God provided for him by bringing food to him, uh, delivered by ravens. Uh, you talk about a DoorDash of an earlier version and he drank water out of a creek. And this was God's way of preparing Elijah for the work that God had for him to do. And I love to tell that story because many times we feel like we're isolated, we're cut off or distant from everybody, or we're the only one nobody else understands. God may have you in a period of isolation because he's equipping you for the work he has for you to do. MM.
00:16:30
S1: And the, the antidote to the despair, then, is not just to be still and think good thoughts, but to be still and look up to know that I am God. I'm the one who's direct. I'm the one who's allowing these really negative things to happen in your life and all these people who are against you, right?
00:16:53
S2: Yeah. We tend to our theology is off balance when we say, I'm having a bad time, God must be upset with me. Well, it could be that our bad season is a consequence of bad living. That's true. It could be that our bad season is a consequence of God's training. Elijah had not done anything wrong. Joseph had not done anything wrong, and yet he was sent to prison. David had not done anything wrong. He had been anointed king and yet was sent out to care for the sheep. Uh, really? Moses had not done anything wrong. He had defended a countryman, and that resulted in bloodshed. That's terrible. Of course, but he then spent 40 years in the wilderness. There are those seasons in life that we are isolated. We feel like we're in the wilderness. Uh. And yet it is during these times that God is shaping our character. So if I'm speaking to somebody, you feel like you have a call on your life, but you're your life is on pause, nothing is moving. Uh, maybe the funding is not coming. Maybe you're not being accepted, uh, for any job interviews. Maybe the university application came back unopened. Who knows what it is. But maybe you feel like your life is just not moving. Maybe you want to be married and you're single. Maybe you want to solve the problems of your marriage and you're stuck. I urge you, be faithful. Just hang in there one day at a time. God's Measurement of time is not hours. He lives outside of time. He's already in every body, every bit as much in tomorrow as he is today. It's huge. Your job. Let him provide. Let him care. Trust him and at the right time and in the right way. If it's his will, he will call you into the next chapter of your life.
00:19:02
S1: But there are so many people who feel like the life of faith that I have been called to live. I didn't sign up for this. And my guess is Elijah probably felt that way at times. This doesn't seem fair. Why would you put me through this? Why do I have to be here? And like you say, we our circumstances, we think, well, God, God's against us. Or he's he's doesn't see what what's going on in our lives. How do you deal with that? I didn't sign up for this feeling.
00:19:34
S2: Well, uh, Chuck Swindoll, a hero of mine, uh, is famously quoted as the one who said, God is not sometimes sovereign. He's not sometimes sovereign. He either is sovereign or he's not at all. So everything that comes into our world is somehow going to be used according to his plan. It's a challenging conversation to say, what does God plan and what does God just permit? The fact that the fact of the matter is we live in a fallen world. The fact of the matter is God could prevent everything, uh, from happening to us. That is, uh, that is a challenge. He could prevent us from having a noisy neighbor, cranky boss, or even a bad habit. He could prevent that. But we live in a world that is messed up. It is just messed up. It is upside down. It is screwed up. And the fact that we live in this dark world means that we're going to feel the consequences of not just our bad choices, but the choices of others. Now, God's solution to this is that he will redeem it. What is intended as evil God will use for good. He will. He will turn things upside down. He will send an ester, uh, into captivity, and she will then become the queen that will save the entire Jewish people. There's one story after another of how God takes the mess of the world, and yet he puts the right person in the right place and at the right time, empowers them to do something that makes a difference. And that's the story of Elijah. And never in the history of Israel had the people gotten so far from God. And yet his first Announcement. The Lord God of Israel lives. And then that's the context. The explanation behind the huge moment of his life on Mount Carmel, when he challenged those 850 prophets to a spiritual showdown, and hundreds of thousands, if not a million people showed up to witness Elijah go against 850 prophets. The 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah tried to call down fire from heaven on the altar, but their God was silent. Elijah. I mean, he barely cleared his throat. Just. He just. He prayed, Lord, show them that I am who you say I am. And fire fell from heaven. One of the greatest miracles in all of Scripture. Uh, because he had the faith, he had the courage to stay faithful in a very difficult time. Now, I hope you'll give me the opportunity in this same broadcast to talk about what happened next. Because the guy Elijah, who had seen so much, becomes a guy who can't bear up under anything, and he enters into a time of dejection, discouragement, yes, even depression.
00:22:45
S1: Oh, absolutely. Because because I want you to speak into is that the mountaintop experience is like, that's what I want to hear. That's what I want to experience. I don't want what's down on the on the other side of that, I want what's down in the valley. And it reminds me of Jonah, you know, and how God isolated. He runs from God and, and God. I don't want to mix prophets here, but it just seems like the same kind of story. God isolated him and taught him something in that place where he thought God was going to pounce on the Ninevites. And no, he showed him his love for the Ninevites. So all of that goes together, doesn't it?
00:23:29
S2: It really does. It really does. You know, somebody ought to write a book just about life in the wilderness, because that's what we all go through at one time or another. Gratefully, I don't know very many. I don't think I've ever met anyone who spent their whole life in a wilderness in a barren wasteland. Um, but all of us find ourselves there one time or another. Uh, for one reason or another. Even Jesus. Ah. Especially Jesus. The fact that the Son of God on earth, God on earth, allowed himself to be led into the wilderness so he could be tempted by the devil. We all go through these times. And Elijah is a picture of somebody who, though he struggled during those times, he was faithful.
00:24:22
S1: And isn't that what God is asking of you and me today? And the question that kind of hangs over this conversation. This best of conversation with Max Lucado is will I be faithful with whatever I am called to go through right now? I've been thinking lately about the tension of life, the hurdles, the struggles, the pain. And there is something that happened to Elijah after this mountaintop experience that was really difficult. You and I like the dramatic answer to prayer. At least I do. I won't speak for you, but the question is, will I have the courage to trust God in the valley? That's where the tension comes in. And I think what God is asking you and me today is will you try to make yourself comfortable? Will you try to soothe and salve the pain in your life so that you get through the hard stuff as quickly as possible? Or will you let that tension, both the tension inside and outside, do its work on your heart? Will you allow God access to, two. For example, the feeling you get when you have unanswered prayer. If you go to the website chris.org, you'll see the book by Max Lucado, Unbreakable Courage, strong Faith in an Age of Anxiety, chaos, and Exhaustion. Our programs recorded today. This is a best of conversation from August, but stay with us. There is more from Max Lucado coming up right here on Moody Radio. Thanks for joining us for a Best of conversation with The One, the only Max Lucado, author of Unbreakable Courage strong Faith in an Age of Anxiety, chaos and Exhaustion. Boy howdy, are we there right now. This really touches a nerve, I think, in our culture today and in the Christian culture as well. So we're going to go back to Elijah now and like Paul Harvey talked about, tell the rest of the story. So, Max, here is the the mountaintop experience. Here is Elijah, here is him calling out to God and immediately fire falling. This is such a dramatic answer to prayer. Then what happened?
00:26:49
S2: And then there's even another miracle. Uh, Elijah prays for the rain to return, and the rain returns. It's so stormy that he tells Ahab, you better get back. You're going to get washed out. I mean, it's just one miracle after another, Chris. But then he gets word. Elijah gets word that Jezebel is out to get him. Now we'd expect him to take a stand against her. We'd expect him to, you know, rise up and say, I just dealt with 850 prophets. You think you can do anything to hurt me? But he doesn't. He re-entered the driving storm, and he trudged his way a hundred miles across the hills of Samaria. He was so scared he made a run for it. He stopped and left his servant in Beersheba. Then he plunged even further another day into the wilderness, and he collapsed. He was exhausted. He had weary limbs, blistered feet. He despaired of life itself. And he said, I'm reading right now from First Kings, chapter nine. He said, enough of this, God, take my life. I'm ready to join my ancestors in the grave. Exhausted, he fell asleep underneath the lone broom brush. So he ran. He ran until he was so exhausted that he spoke words that sound suicidal. You know, I think this story has so much to say for us. Did you know that 1 in 3 people in America battle to one degree or another with depression? 1 in 3 people. You know, if you and I saw in a grocery store, one out of three people wearing a cast over their right arm, we would think something is wrong. There's a pandemic against right arms. Well, the fact is, one out of three people you see in a grocery store, shopping mall, traffic jam, one out of three of them is battling this, this pervasive sense of gloom and doom. So what does this story tell us? Well, it tells us how God responds when we are facing a tough day. The scripture says that, uh, Elijah sat down under the bush and he fell asleep. An angel awoke him and told him to eat. and. And he looked over and there was food provided by the angels. Then he drank, and he lay down again, and he. He took another nap. And then the Lord said, get up and go. The journey is too much for you. This is one of the most tender moments in all of Scripture. God could have easily and understandably said, what does it take to convince you, Elijah? But he didn't. He did. He did not have any words of of reprimand. And I think that anybody listening today who's passing through a discouraging time, one of those challenges is you need to believe that God still loves you. He's not cut himself, cut you off. He's not angry. He's not frustrated with you. He may be telling you what he told Elijah, and that is get some rest. Be refreshed. You know, we tend to live in a day without margins. It seems like our attention span is sold to the to the highest bidder. We never stop and rest. Elijah had for six weeks trudged across the wilderness. He was exhausted and so God told him to rest. Finally, he reached Mount Horeb. There he went into a cave, and the word of the Lord came to him in a cave and said, what are you doing in here? Now that's practical, Chris, because when we're discouraged or depressed, we want to go into a cave or we want to go under into our bedroom. We want to crawl under our blankets. But God called him out of the cave, and that's important. Get into community. Find some friends. At least get on a Zoom call. Call a therapist. Call a pastor. Call your mom. Don't isolate yourself. Get into circulation. And then. Just one other thing. But it is the most beautiful thing. God spoke to him. He spoke to him. He didn't speak to him through a fire, didn't speak to him through the wind. He spoke to him, came to him in a still, small voice. It was kind of like a low whisper. It was. It was the sound of a gentle blowing. There was no critique, no firm sermon, no finger pointing. God came in the shadows. And he will come to you, my friend. This is tender restoration. Maybe God is whispering to you to help you to stay strong. And after Elijah heard the voice of God, he found strength. He found strength, and God sent him back into the game. God actually asked him in First Kings chapter 19 and verse 13. So Elijah, now tell me, what are you doing here? What are you doing here? And Elijah filed his complaint again. He said, I've done all the good work. Nobody cares for me, but God responds and urges him to get back in the game. There are times in which we just need to get back in the game. I think one of the most practical things we can do when we're discouraged is to help someone else to go across the street, find a neighbor who needs encouragement and be that encouragement. God will help us. He helped Elijah and he will help us still.
00:32:41
S1: That's Max Lucado. You just mentioned First Kings 19, and Jan has a question in Colorado. Jan, why did you call today?
00:32:49
S3: Oh, yes. Thank you for taking my call. I've been pondering this for a long time. And and, um, Mr. Lucado, you partially answered my question by saying this might be for a season, but I'm wondering, from the point of view of the 7000 believers that is later mentioned in the Scripture, you know, God says, I have 7000 who have not bowed their knee to Baal. So my question is trying to bring Elijah into, you know, our world today. So how do these believers, um, relate to Elijah? I mean, they weren't even part of his life. So he didn't have the security or the support of those people. And so are they at fault in not supporting him or where were they?
00:33:41
S2: That is a question. We're just we're not given given the answer to that question, all we can do is speculate. My hunch is you have an evil king and queen. You have 850 false prophets. You have an entire army at your fingertips if you're a king. Ahab and Jezebel. And I believe those 7000 good prophets had gotten scared. That's what I think. I think they just kind of went underground. Elijah came and he was a person of faith, a person of courage. You're right. Why did they take so long to appear in the story? I believe that they were just living under a cloud of fear. Now, as you know, the story of Elijah ends with him heading up a school of prophets or having actually several locations where he's training prophets. And I'm confident those 7000 came out of hiding. But there was a time in which they had gone underground for fear of their own lives. And the example of courage, of, of, of Elijah's courage gave them courage to come out. Mhm.
00:34:57
S1: Jan, I'm glad you called today. And I want to give, uh, let Max talk with Kathy. She needs a little bit of encouragement today, but let's take our final break. Max Lucado is with us today at the back fence. Unbreakable courage. Strong faith in an age of anxiety, chaos, and Exhaustions are featured resource. Just go to Chris Fabry live.org. You can find out more about him and the new book there. Chris fabry.org. More encouragement from Max is straight ahead on Moody Radio. Our remaining moments with America's pastor, Max Lucado, who has written a new book, Unbreakable Courage Strong Faith in an Age of Anxiety, Chaos and Exhaustion, featured resource at Chris Fabry live.org. Kathy is in New Hampshire, and I want to get her connected with your heart today. Max. Kathy, go right ahead.
00:35:57
S4: Well, thank you for taking my call. I have read several of your gazillions of books and, um, I'm a longtime Christian. I am in my 70s. My, um, husband has been in a nursing home for six years. And the Lord led me to bring him home to New Hampshire, to be near our grown sons. Uh, we've been here a year and a half, and he got settled into a beautiful, uh, veteran's home. But I have found over 14 months that I cannot find housing, affordable housing for me, and I have to make some heavy decisions. And, um, I'm not going to move him. I have already decided he is happy where he is. And, um, I always, I have always tried. We've just celebrated our 50th anniversary. I've always tried to do what is best for Gary and, uh, but I have to really reevaluate and make some important decisions. And it's, it's while the, while you're waiting on God to answer your prayers that, uh, you can have some anxiety, chaos and, and even exhaustion.
00:37:08
S5: Uh, that's real life. That is real.
00:37:12
S1: Oh, Kathy, I'm. I love your love for your husband that you just described there. So thank you for sharing that. Maxwell, what would you say to Kathy?
00:37:22
S2: Well, I would say what you just said, Chris, that that all husbands should have someone like Kathy in their lives to bring encouragement and provide, provide that support. Uh, is your husband in, in bad health? Kathy? Is he have any cognitive issues or physical issues?
00:37:44
S4: Uh, he's got late stage Parkinson's. He has, he doesn't have cognitive issues, but doesn't walk or talk much.
00:37:54
S2: It must be really difficult. It must. Well, I think if if the Elijah story, if there's one event in his life that really struck me, it's it has to do with a widow in a town called Zarephath. A Zarephath was a Gentile village. It was actually the area where many of the evil people came from. Uh, some some of the, uh, the Zera. I'm sorry. I got my names confused. Ahab and Jezebel. Jezebel's, uh, grew up in Zarephath. So this was her hometown. So Elijah must have wondered why God would send him to the hometown of Zarephath. And if that wasn't enough, God told Elijah that a widow in the town of Zarephath would care for him. Apparently, the widow didn't get the memo because when Elijah said, you're to take care of me, she said, I don't have enough food for my son and myself. We're going to have one last meal and then we're going to die. So that seemed to be no resources. None at all. She was destitute. She was down to her last batch of flour. Uh, she had an empty pantry, and she and her son feared that they were about to die. But God had told Elijah, go to Zarephath. I've commanded a widow there to take care of you. So again, this question surfaces would would God give Elijah an assignment and not the provision? Or would God give Cathy the assignment and not the provision? I mean, the widow in Elijah's story was was penniless and she felt like she was nearly dead. But Elijah spoke to her. He spoke to her and urged her to not be afraid to go home, take a small loaf of bread and take what resources you have and make a small loaf of bread and the jar of flour will not be used up in the jug of oil will not run dry. He urged her to take a step of obedience and said that God is going to take care of you. We all wish that God would provide everything we need for the rest of our lives in one fell swoop. But the fact is, he calls upon us to take just one step at a time. Live one day at a time. Give us this day our daily bread. To the widow's credit, she did. And to the widow's surprise, she learned that Elijah's promise was true, and that every day there was ample provision. So, father, I want to pray right now for Cathy. I want to pray that you meet this need. Uh, she sensed you telling her to move to New Hampshire. But now the pantry. The pantry looks bare, barren. It looks like she's out of resources. But, father, you're not out of resources. You have solutions, you have provisions, you have answers, and you will bless her. I pray Heavenly Father and Chris joins this prayer. All of us join our prayers. We pray for Kathy, asking that you would show a way for her to find affordable housing so that she can care for her husband in the way that you have placed it on her heart to do so. We know that you will hear this prayer. Strengthen her and bless her and open doors, please, in the name of Christ. Amen.
00:41:45
S1: And for all the other Kathy's who are in the same kind of situation and asking God, what do I do here? Uh, listen to that prayer. More than that, look up and look at the God of Israel, the God who still is alive today. Kathy, hang on. I want to send you a copy. Make sure that we get you a copy of this book, Unbreakable Courage. It comes out tomorrow. Max, you're a real treasure. I say it to you every time, and I mean it every time. Thank you for sharing your heart in your books, but also with us here at the back fence today.
00:42:22
S2: It's been my treat. Chris, thank you for the opportunity. I hope you have a great rest of the day.
00:42:28
S1: You too, Max Lucado. Again, if you go to chris.org, click through today's information. You'll see that book, Unbreakable Courage strong Faith in an Age of Anxiety, chaos, and Exhaustion toward the back of the book. He. He does exactly what he was talking about with Cathy, and that is okay. What is your outlook going to be? Are you going to look at your circumstances, or are you going to look at the great God that you have? And here's what Max writes. Elijah had his difficulties, but he landed on his feet. He was a godly person in a godless society, steadfast in faith. Isn't that what we desire? To move forward with? Unbreakable courage that refuses to budge or compromise, to keep swimming upstream, to stay in the race and finish the course? How can we? By knowing what Elijah knew. By believing what he believed. The God of Israel lives. The monarchy is a mess, but the God of Israel lives. I'm all alone in my belief, but the God of Israel lives. The faith of my forefathers has been turned upside down. But the God of Israel lives. Or put it in our day, the companies laying off workers. But the God of Israel lives. The world is changing so fast, but the God of Israel lives. My health is declining. My body is aging, but the Lord God of Israel lives. Elijah gripped this belief and held on with both hands. The God of Israel lives. Won't you do the same? Faith in this living and loving God changes everything. We do not need smaller problems. We need a stalwart faith in our great big God. He still makes princes out of prisoners, counselors out of captives, and Sundays. Out of Fridays. King David once posed this question. When all that is good falls apart, what can good people do when evil seems to win? When disease ravages our bodies and death knocks at the door? What are we to do? What is the good and godly response to a fragile and vile world? David doesn't answer his question with an answer. He answers it with a declaration. The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord is on his throne in heaven. Psalm 11, verse four. His point is unmistakable. God is unaffected by the storms of this world. He is undeterred by the chaos of my life. He is unfrightened by the problems that frighten me. He is in his holy temple. He is on his throne in heaven, and he sees you, and he hears you. And he knows what you and I are going through. What an encouragement today from Max Lucado. I hope this I hope you didn't need this program today, but my guess is you probably did. Unbreakable courage. Max Lucado is our featured resource at Chris Fabry live.org. Maybe the chaos in your life is what I mentioned about a half hour ago, the tension that you are going through and that tension can be on the inside, or it can be on the outside, there is a relational fracture that you're going through, and you don't want this or something at work or something at school or something in the neighborhood or inside your. You're feeling that anxiety and you want it to be gone. Do you see in Elijah's life how the tension gave him momentum, how the tension moved him forward and closer to the heart of God? That's what I know Max would want for you and what I would want for you as well. Whatever you are going through, allow that to be sifted through the sovereign, loving, grace filled hand of God. Hope that was encouraging to you today. Thanks for listening. Chris Fabry Live is a production of Moody Radio, a Ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
S1: If you could choose someone from the Bible other than Jesus to sit down and share some life lessons with you today, who would it be? Moses. Joseph. David. Maybe Peter or Paul. Today at the Radio Backyard Fence, a best of broadcast with Max Lucado. Life lessons from a man on the run. A pursued saint who was rough around the edges. Who didn't live by opinion polls. He lived under intense persecution. There was tension all around him depressed, discouraged, struggling with the chaos and the culture and the anxiety within. That sounds a lot like our day and age, doesn't it? We're going to talk about that person today with Max, who is America's pastor. He had a book come out in August when we first aired this program about staying steady or steadfast in unsteady days, and I think we are smack dab in the middle of that right now. Who is this biblical friend who wants to speak into our lives? You'll find out straight ahead on the program from the heart to the heart for the heart, online@chris.org. Let me thank our team, Ryan McConaughey doing all things technical. Tricia is our producer. Nobody's answering the phones today because our broadcast is recorded. So if you hear a phone number, disregard that. And if you hear me say that his new book comes out tomorrow, you can disregard that as well, because this first aired back in August. Max is America's best selling inspirational author. He's known as America's Pastor, entered ministry in 1978. Whew. That's a long time ago. Has served in Miami, Florida, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, San Antonio, Texas. He is still teaching. Minister of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, where he and his wife Dannielynn live and are featured. Resource today is titled Unbreakable Courage. You'll find out more about it at. Chris Fabry live.org. Max Lucado, how are you doing today?
00:02:11
S2: Chris. I'm doing great. It's so, so good to hear your voice. Uh, deeply appreciate the opportunity to have a conversation.
00:02:21
S1: Same here. And you and I have chats in some tough life struggles, flooding of the Guadalupe or the pandemic. But this seems, you know, the struggle of life. That seems to be the lane that you are made for. Is that true?
00:02:37
S2: I enjoy, um, being an encouragement to people and I love to, uh, create messages that would help somebody just navigate the current storm. Now, as to how effective I am at that, Chris, I don't know, but I feel my heart drawn toward people when they're in the midst of a of a personal challenge. And I appreciate the opportunity to just lift their spirits and give them a word of hope.
00:03:08
S1: You know, you're writing, as I've read you through the years is a lot like, uh, sorry for the comparison, but a lot like John Grisham. It's like, I'll read Grisham and Grisham has written some good books and some not so good books, but I'll get into Grisham novel and it's like, how does he do this? How does he tell this story? Because I'm reading along. It just pulls me in. And when I got into this, this book, this new one, Unbreakable Courage, it was the same way. It's like you're, you're dealing with a person from the Bible and then you're saying, you know, you and your wife went down the rapids together in this kayak and you're telling this funny story. It's like it all weaves together. How in the world do you do that? Or how did you learn how to do that?
00:03:50
S2: Well, I agree about John Grisham. I love his books. Uh, in fact, just the other day I was thinking, I need to pull down his newest one and. And give it a look. Extraordinary writer. I always loved writing. I never have considered myself a great writer, but I can put thoughts together and I love working with words. I love to self edit. Um, I am a bit of an introvert, which plays well, uh, as one who spends a lot of time staring at a computer screen. Um, and I love, I love the idea of writing. I love writing something that will long outlive me and that will speak to people in a very personal and tender moment in their lives. Everything about writing I really enjoy. I don't like the copyediting part, so I don't do much of that. If I get in, if I have punctuation mistakes, It's not my fault, but I. Otherwise, I love every aspect of the. Of the writing world.
00:05:02
S1: I could tell. And. And when you are moved by words, the. Were moved by the word to want to do that same thing for somebody else makes an awful lot of sense to me when when you've been changed by it. Right.
00:05:16
S2: Mhm. It really does. It really does. When when you have gone through an experience, uh, it, it can, it can be of great asset to you. You know, there's a scripture that says that we can comfort others with the same comfort that God used to comfort us. And when we go through an experience, a challenging experience, it's wise for us to think, okay, God is allowing this to happen to me, to shape me, and also to equip me so that someday when I'm talking to someone who's going through this very same challenge, I will have a word to say. There's nothing more powerful than for somebody to hear. You know, I went through the same thing. Here's what I learned. It was tough, but I made it for for you to be able to say that to someone else. That is a true treasure. Yeah.
00:06:11
S1: I think that's the power of what you do, Max. And that is when I read you. When I hear you too, when I hear your voice, it's like you're putting an arm around me and saying, okay, I know that this is a struggle. If things are going to be okay, this is going to be all right. You're going to get through this and that's what you've done. But you've used a someone that I wasn't expecting from the Old Testament, a man named Elijah. I don't remember you talking about calling down fire on the on Mount Carmel or wherever that was. I don't remember you doing that or prophesying that it's not going to rain for a certain amount of time there in Texas. So you didn't go through exactly what Elijah went through.
00:06:53
S2: Not the same. Do you think Elijah's well known in in our generation? Is he is he right up there with other, you know, Peter and and Paul or Mary, or do you feel he's a character that needs to be rediscovered?
00:07:10
S1: I think he needs to be rediscovered because I think of first thing I thought of when I knew it was Elijah, I thought of John the Baptist, and then I thought about Jesus on the cross and them saying, oh, he's he's calling Elijah. You know, and then thinking about the Mount of Transfiguration, all of this. You're right. Exactly. Why? Why was it Moses and Elijah that came to speak with Jesus? And why did Jesus allow his three closest friends to see that? So I, I think you're on to something here.
00:07:43
S2: I don't hear Elijah discussed a lot. Uh, I can't say that I have been a student of Elijah my entire life, but I got interested in his, um, journey about ten years ago, just prior to Covid. Uh, because that's when we began hearing so many people talk about the mental health issues. Uh, probably there was lots of conversation before that, but that's when I tuned in. And, um, I was looking for a character in Scripture who would relate to the world in which we live. And of course, there are so many, but Elijah came to mind because Elijah, uh, was actually outnumbered. He didn't just feel outnumbered, but he was outnumbered. He had a miraculous power that, uh, was used to rescue the children of Israel. And then he had times of the deepest and darkest despondency, a depression of sorts. And then, uh, he is recognized in the New Testament, as you pointed out, as a truly important person, because he appears with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration. And when James talks about the prophet Elijah and uses him as an illustration of one who prayed, he points out, remember, he was human, just as we are. He was a man just as we are. And so there's this concerted effort in Scripture to present a person who was truly outnumbered, yet experienced the power of God, yet had some really tough times. And he was human, just as we are. And his world is so marked by miracles, by divine interventions, by extraordinary events, Uh, that that he brings hope to us in the day in which we live.
00:09:53
S1: And even in those downtimes, even in the real depressing times when everything was against him to let go of his hold on, on God. He, he held steadfastly, he held, or God held him, or both were going at the same time. I think there is something here. Max Lucado is with us. He has written a new book, Unbreakable Courage Strong Faith in an Age of Anxiety, chaos and Exhaustion. Is that where you are now? If so, there is real biblical encouragement for your soul coming up straight ahead on Chris Fabry Live. Max Lucado wants you and me to consider the life of faith, the courage of Elijah, and we're going to do that today at the Radio Backyard Fence. If you go to Chris Fabry live.org, you'll see Unbreakable Courage, the new book by Max that releases tomorrow. Let's go to Chris Fabry live.org. One of the lessons of Elijah is the silence, the solitude. Max says the prophet needed to grow comfortable in isolation. Purposeful silence and solitude are basic courses in Unbreakable Courage 101. But in our modern world, we often avoid the stillness. Headphones. Earbuds. Social media. Society has a constant chatter to it. Yet God's invitation is compelling. Be still and know that I am God. The message translates this command. Step out of the traffic. Take a long, loving look at me. Your high God and that shades of A.W. Tozer who said, get out of the world's parade, step out of the world's parade. So, Max, why is that so important for us today to catch a vision of.
00:11:56
S2: Yeah. Great question. Great question Chris. Um, just in case somebody has forgotten the context of Elijah, uh, it takes place in, uh, eight, eight century BC, um, ancient Israel. And it is one of the darkest eras in the history of Israel. Uh, the children of Israel have long since abandoned the God of Moses, the God of Abraham, the God of David. And it's tragic because it was just 100 years earlier that they built the temple, a golden era of faith in the history of the Hebrew people. And yet, as it can happen, uh, the faith was not transmitted from from generation to generation. And there is a series of scriptures in the book of First Kings that describe the kings themselves. And each one, uh, is their story. The paragraph is concluded with the line, he was more evil, he was more evil than the king before him, or he was more evil than there had ever been of a king in it. It was just one sad, sorry epitaph after another. And this went on for decades. And by the time Elijah appears, the children of Israel have turned away from the one true God, the God of Moses, Abraham, David. They have turned instead to worship Baal BAAL and Asherah a SHERAH In tragedy upon tragedy comes upon the children of Israel. They are not only worshipping false gods, but they are engaging in child sacrifice and temple prostitution. All in the name of religion. It is a dark, dark time in the nation of Israel. Well, how does God respond to this time? Well, he responds in the form of a man by the name of Elijah. He just seems to appear out of nowhere. Chris, we don't know his background. We don't know how he came to have this deep faith, but he appears, uh, on the pages of Scripture as he walks into the throne room of the vilest of the vile kings and queens, Ahab and Jezebel. You know, there's a reason we don't name our kids Ahab and Jezebel. These were terrible people and they sponsored 850 prophets, false prophets. They paid their salaries. They put food on their tables. So this is why we can see that Elijah is much like the world in which we live today. He was outnumbered. He was surrounded, surrounded. Everywhere he went. There were false prophets. We feel like that sometimes today. Everywhere we turn, we see challenges and issues and struggles. So Elijah was God's answer to this difficult time. And part of the way God trained Elijah was isolation. Uh, after after he was, he confronted Ahab and Jezebel after he declared a drought, uh, God sent him into, um, a remote ravine called Cherith. ERITAKERITH. And there he was, alone in isolation for what seems to be about a year. And God provided for him by bringing food to him, uh, delivered by ravens. Uh, you talk about a DoorDash of an earlier version and he drank water out of a creek. And this was God's way of preparing Elijah for the work that God had for him to do. And I love to tell that story because many times we feel like we're isolated, we're cut off or distant from everybody, or we're the only one nobody else understands. God may have you in a period of isolation because he's equipping you for the work he has for you to do. MM.
00:16:30
S1: And the, the antidote to the despair, then, is not just to be still and think good thoughts, but to be still and look up to know that I am God. I'm the one who's direct. I'm the one who's allowing these really negative things to happen in your life and all these people who are against you, right?
00:16:53
S2: Yeah. We tend to our theology is off balance when we say, I'm having a bad time, God must be upset with me. Well, it could be that our bad season is a consequence of bad living. That's true. It could be that our bad season is a consequence of God's training. Elijah had not done anything wrong. Joseph had not done anything wrong, and yet he was sent to prison. David had not done anything wrong. He had been anointed king and yet was sent out to care for the sheep. Uh, really? Moses had not done anything wrong. He had defended a countryman, and that resulted in bloodshed. That's terrible. Of course, but he then spent 40 years in the wilderness. There are those seasons in life that we are isolated. We feel like we're in the wilderness. Uh. And yet it is during these times that God is shaping our character. So if I'm speaking to somebody, you feel like you have a call on your life, but you're your life is on pause, nothing is moving. Uh, maybe the funding is not coming. Maybe you're not being accepted, uh, for any job interviews. Maybe the university application came back unopened. Who knows what it is. But maybe you feel like your life is just not moving. Maybe you want to be married and you're single. Maybe you want to solve the problems of your marriage and you're stuck. I urge you, be faithful. Just hang in there one day at a time. God's Measurement of time is not hours. He lives outside of time. He's already in every body, every bit as much in tomorrow as he is today. It's huge. Your job. Let him provide. Let him care. Trust him and at the right time and in the right way. If it's his will, he will call you into the next chapter of your life.
00:19:02
S1: But there are so many people who feel like the life of faith that I have been called to live. I didn't sign up for this. And my guess is Elijah probably felt that way at times. This doesn't seem fair. Why would you put me through this? Why do I have to be here? And like you say, we our circumstances, we think, well, God, God's against us. Or he's he's doesn't see what what's going on in our lives. How do you deal with that? I didn't sign up for this feeling.
00:19:34
S2: Well, uh, Chuck Swindoll, a hero of mine, uh, is famously quoted as the one who said, God is not sometimes sovereign. He's not sometimes sovereign. He either is sovereign or he's not at all. So everything that comes into our world is somehow going to be used according to his plan. It's a challenging conversation to say, what does God plan and what does God just permit? The fact that the fact of the matter is we live in a fallen world. The fact of the matter is God could prevent everything, uh, from happening to us. That is, uh, that is a challenge. He could prevent us from having a noisy neighbor, cranky boss, or even a bad habit. He could prevent that. But we live in a world that is messed up. It is just messed up. It is upside down. It is screwed up. And the fact that we live in this dark world means that we're going to feel the consequences of not just our bad choices, but the choices of others. Now, God's solution to this is that he will redeem it. What is intended as evil God will use for good. He will. He will turn things upside down. He will send an ester, uh, into captivity, and she will then become the queen that will save the entire Jewish people. There's one story after another of how God takes the mess of the world, and yet he puts the right person in the right place and at the right time, empowers them to do something that makes a difference. And that's the story of Elijah. And never in the history of Israel had the people gotten so far from God. And yet his first Announcement. The Lord God of Israel lives. And then that's the context. The explanation behind the huge moment of his life on Mount Carmel, when he challenged those 850 prophets to a spiritual showdown, and hundreds of thousands, if not a million people showed up to witness Elijah go against 850 prophets. The 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah tried to call down fire from heaven on the altar, but their God was silent. Elijah. I mean, he barely cleared his throat. Just. He just. He prayed, Lord, show them that I am who you say I am. And fire fell from heaven. One of the greatest miracles in all of Scripture. Uh, because he had the faith, he had the courage to stay faithful in a very difficult time. Now, I hope you'll give me the opportunity in this same broadcast to talk about what happened next. Because the guy Elijah, who had seen so much, becomes a guy who can't bear up under anything, and he enters into a time of dejection, discouragement, yes, even depression.
00:22:45
S1: Oh, absolutely. Because because I want you to speak into is that the mountaintop experience is like, that's what I want to hear. That's what I want to experience. I don't want what's down on the on the other side of that, I want what's down in the valley. And it reminds me of Jonah, you know, and how God isolated. He runs from God and, and God. I don't want to mix prophets here, but it just seems like the same kind of story. God isolated him and taught him something in that place where he thought God was going to pounce on the Ninevites. And no, he showed him his love for the Ninevites. So all of that goes together, doesn't it?
00:23:29
S2: It really does. It really does. You know, somebody ought to write a book just about life in the wilderness, because that's what we all go through at one time or another. Gratefully, I don't know very many. I don't think I've ever met anyone who spent their whole life in a wilderness in a barren wasteland. Um, but all of us find ourselves there one time or another. Uh, for one reason or another. Even Jesus. Ah. Especially Jesus. The fact that the Son of God on earth, God on earth, allowed himself to be led into the wilderness so he could be tempted by the devil. We all go through these times. And Elijah is a picture of somebody who, though he struggled during those times, he was faithful.
00:24:22
S1: And isn't that what God is asking of you and me today? And the question that kind of hangs over this conversation. This best of conversation with Max Lucado is will I be faithful with whatever I am called to go through right now? I've been thinking lately about the tension of life, the hurdles, the struggles, the pain. And there is something that happened to Elijah after this mountaintop experience that was really difficult. You and I like the dramatic answer to prayer. At least I do. I won't speak for you, but the question is, will I have the courage to trust God in the valley? That's where the tension comes in. And I think what God is asking you and me today is will you try to make yourself comfortable? Will you try to soothe and salve the pain in your life so that you get through the hard stuff as quickly as possible? Or will you let that tension, both the tension inside and outside, do its work on your heart? Will you allow God access to, two. For example, the feeling you get when you have unanswered prayer. If you go to the website chris.org, you'll see the book by Max Lucado, Unbreakable Courage, strong Faith in an Age of Anxiety, chaos, and Exhaustion. Our programs recorded today. This is a best of conversation from August, but stay with us. There is more from Max Lucado coming up right here on Moody Radio. Thanks for joining us for a Best of conversation with The One, the only Max Lucado, author of Unbreakable Courage strong Faith in an Age of Anxiety, chaos and Exhaustion. Boy howdy, are we there right now. This really touches a nerve, I think, in our culture today and in the Christian culture as well. So we're going to go back to Elijah now and like Paul Harvey talked about, tell the rest of the story. So, Max, here is the the mountaintop experience. Here is Elijah, here is him calling out to God and immediately fire falling. This is such a dramatic answer to prayer. Then what happened?
00:26:49
S2: And then there's even another miracle. Uh, Elijah prays for the rain to return, and the rain returns. It's so stormy that he tells Ahab, you better get back. You're going to get washed out. I mean, it's just one miracle after another, Chris. But then he gets word. Elijah gets word that Jezebel is out to get him. Now we'd expect him to take a stand against her. We'd expect him to, you know, rise up and say, I just dealt with 850 prophets. You think you can do anything to hurt me? But he doesn't. He re-entered the driving storm, and he trudged his way a hundred miles across the hills of Samaria. He was so scared he made a run for it. He stopped and left his servant in Beersheba. Then he plunged even further another day into the wilderness, and he collapsed. He was exhausted. He had weary limbs, blistered feet. He despaired of life itself. And he said, I'm reading right now from First Kings, chapter nine. He said, enough of this, God, take my life. I'm ready to join my ancestors in the grave. Exhausted, he fell asleep underneath the lone broom brush. So he ran. He ran until he was so exhausted that he spoke words that sound suicidal. You know, I think this story has so much to say for us. Did you know that 1 in 3 people in America battle to one degree or another with depression? 1 in 3 people. You know, if you and I saw in a grocery store, one out of three people wearing a cast over their right arm, we would think something is wrong. There's a pandemic against right arms. Well, the fact is, one out of three people you see in a grocery store, shopping mall, traffic jam, one out of three of them is battling this, this pervasive sense of gloom and doom. So what does this story tell us? Well, it tells us how God responds when we are facing a tough day. The scripture says that, uh, Elijah sat down under the bush and he fell asleep. An angel awoke him and told him to eat. and. And he looked over and there was food provided by the angels. Then he drank, and he lay down again, and he. He took another nap. And then the Lord said, get up and go. The journey is too much for you. This is one of the most tender moments in all of Scripture. God could have easily and understandably said, what does it take to convince you, Elijah? But he didn't. He did. He did not have any words of of reprimand. And I think that anybody listening today who's passing through a discouraging time, one of those challenges is you need to believe that God still loves you. He's not cut himself, cut you off. He's not angry. He's not frustrated with you. He may be telling you what he told Elijah, and that is get some rest. Be refreshed. You know, we tend to live in a day without margins. It seems like our attention span is sold to the to the highest bidder. We never stop and rest. Elijah had for six weeks trudged across the wilderness. He was exhausted and so God told him to rest. Finally, he reached Mount Horeb. There he went into a cave, and the word of the Lord came to him in a cave and said, what are you doing in here? Now that's practical, Chris, because when we're discouraged or depressed, we want to go into a cave or we want to go under into our bedroom. We want to crawl under our blankets. But God called him out of the cave, and that's important. Get into community. Find some friends. At least get on a Zoom call. Call a therapist. Call a pastor. Call your mom. Don't isolate yourself. Get into circulation. And then. Just one other thing. But it is the most beautiful thing. God spoke to him. He spoke to him. He didn't speak to him through a fire, didn't speak to him through the wind. He spoke to him, came to him in a still, small voice. It was kind of like a low whisper. It was. It was the sound of a gentle blowing. There was no critique, no firm sermon, no finger pointing. God came in the shadows. And he will come to you, my friend. This is tender restoration. Maybe God is whispering to you to help you to stay strong. And after Elijah heard the voice of God, he found strength. He found strength, and God sent him back into the game. God actually asked him in First Kings chapter 19 and verse 13. So Elijah, now tell me, what are you doing here? What are you doing here? And Elijah filed his complaint again. He said, I've done all the good work. Nobody cares for me, but God responds and urges him to get back in the game. There are times in which we just need to get back in the game. I think one of the most practical things we can do when we're discouraged is to help someone else to go across the street, find a neighbor who needs encouragement and be that encouragement. God will help us. He helped Elijah and he will help us still.
00:32:41
S1: That's Max Lucado. You just mentioned First Kings 19, and Jan has a question in Colorado. Jan, why did you call today?
00:32:49
S3: Oh, yes. Thank you for taking my call. I've been pondering this for a long time. And and, um, Mr. Lucado, you partially answered my question by saying this might be for a season, but I'm wondering, from the point of view of the 7000 believers that is later mentioned in the Scripture, you know, God says, I have 7000 who have not bowed their knee to Baal. So my question is trying to bring Elijah into, you know, our world today. So how do these believers, um, relate to Elijah? I mean, they weren't even part of his life. So he didn't have the security or the support of those people. And so are they at fault in not supporting him or where were they?
00:33:41
S2: That is a question. We're just we're not given given the answer to that question, all we can do is speculate. My hunch is you have an evil king and queen. You have 850 false prophets. You have an entire army at your fingertips if you're a king. Ahab and Jezebel. And I believe those 7000 good prophets had gotten scared. That's what I think. I think they just kind of went underground. Elijah came and he was a person of faith, a person of courage. You're right. Why did they take so long to appear in the story? I believe that they were just living under a cloud of fear. Now, as you know, the story of Elijah ends with him heading up a school of prophets or having actually several locations where he's training prophets. And I'm confident those 7000 came out of hiding. But there was a time in which they had gone underground for fear of their own lives. And the example of courage, of, of, of Elijah's courage gave them courage to come out. Mhm.
00:34:57
S1: Jan, I'm glad you called today. And I want to give, uh, let Max talk with Kathy. She needs a little bit of encouragement today, but let's take our final break. Max Lucado is with us today at the back fence. Unbreakable courage. Strong faith in an age of anxiety, chaos, and Exhaustions are featured resource. Just go to Chris Fabry live.org. You can find out more about him and the new book there. Chris fabry.org. More encouragement from Max is straight ahead on Moody Radio. Our remaining moments with America's pastor, Max Lucado, who has written a new book, Unbreakable Courage Strong Faith in an Age of Anxiety, Chaos and Exhaustion, featured resource at Chris Fabry live.org. Kathy is in New Hampshire, and I want to get her connected with your heart today. Max. Kathy, go right ahead.
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S4: Well, thank you for taking my call. I have read several of your gazillions of books and, um, I'm a longtime Christian. I am in my 70s. My, um, husband has been in a nursing home for six years. And the Lord led me to bring him home to New Hampshire, to be near our grown sons. Uh, we've been here a year and a half, and he got settled into a beautiful, uh, veteran's home. But I have found over 14 months that I cannot find housing, affordable housing for me, and I have to make some heavy decisions. And, um, I'm not going to move him. I have already decided he is happy where he is. And, um, I always, I have always tried. We've just celebrated our 50th anniversary. I've always tried to do what is best for Gary and, uh, but I have to really reevaluate and make some important decisions. And it's, it's while the, while you're waiting on God to answer your prayers that, uh, you can have some anxiety, chaos and, and even exhaustion.
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S5: Uh, that's real life. That is real.
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S1: Oh, Kathy, I'm. I love your love for your husband that you just described there. So thank you for sharing that. Maxwell, what would you say to Kathy?
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S2: Well, I would say what you just said, Chris, that that all husbands should have someone like Kathy in their lives to bring encouragement and provide, provide that support. Uh, is your husband in, in bad health? Kathy? Is he have any cognitive issues or physical issues?
00:37:44
S4: Uh, he's got late stage Parkinson's. He has, he doesn't have cognitive issues, but doesn't walk or talk much.
00:37:54
S2: It must be really difficult. It must. Well, I think if if the Elijah story, if there's one event in his life that really struck me, it's it has to do with a widow in a town called Zarephath. A Zarephath was a Gentile village. It was actually the area where many of the evil people came from. Uh, some some of the, uh, the Zera. I'm sorry. I got my names confused. Ahab and Jezebel. Jezebel's, uh, grew up in Zarephath. So this was her hometown. So Elijah must have wondered why God would send him to the hometown of Zarephath. And if that wasn't enough, God told Elijah that a widow in the town of Zarephath would care for him. Apparently, the widow didn't get the memo because when Elijah said, you're to take care of me, she said, I don't have enough food for my son and myself. We're going to have one last meal and then we're going to die. So that seemed to be no resources. None at all. She was destitute. She was down to her last batch of flour. Uh, she had an empty pantry, and she and her son feared that they were about to die. But God had told Elijah, go to Zarephath. I've commanded a widow there to take care of you. So again, this question surfaces would would God give Elijah an assignment and not the provision? Or would God give Cathy the assignment and not the provision? I mean, the widow in Elijah's story was was penniless and she felt like she was nearly dead. But Elijah spoke to her. He spoke to her and urged her to not be afraid to go home, take a small loaf of bread and take what resources you have and make a small loaf of bread and the jar of flour will not be used up in the jug of oil will not run dry. He urged her to take a step of obedience and said that God is going to take care of you. We all wish that God would provide everything we need for the rest of our lives in one fell swoop. But the fact is, he calls upon us to take just one step at a time. Live one day at a time. Give us this day our daily bread. To the widow's credit, she did. And to the widow's surprise, she learned that Elijah's promise was true, and that every day there was ample provision. So, father, I want to pray right now for Cathy. I want to pray that you meet this need. Uh, she sensed you telling her to move to New Hampshire. But now the pantry. The pantry looks bare, barren. It looks like she's out of resources. But, father, you're not out of resources. You have solutions, you have provisions, you have answers, and you will bless her. I pray Heavenly Father and Chris joins this prayer. All of us join our prayers. We pray for Kathy, asking that you would show a way for her to find affordable housing so that she can care for her husband in the way that you have placed it on her heart to do so. We know that you will hear this prayer. Strengthen her and bless her and open doors, please, in the name of Christ. Amen.
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S1: And for all the other Kathy's who are in the same kind of situation and asking God, what do I do here? Uh, listen to that prayer. More than that, look up and look at the God of Israel, the God who still is alive today. Kathy, hang on. I want to send you a copy. Make sure that we get you a copy of this book, Unbreakable Courage. It comes out tomorrow. Max, you're a real treasure. I say it to you every time, and I mean it every time. Thank you for sharing your heart in your books, but also with us here at the back fence today.
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S2: It's been my treat. Chris, thank you for the opportunity. I hope you have a great rest of the day.
00:42:28
S1: You too, Max Lucado. Again, if you go to chris.org, click through today's information. You'll see that book, Unbreakable Courage strong Faith in an Age of Anxiety, chaos, and Exhaustion toward the back of the book. He. He does exactly what he was talking about with Cathy, and that is okay. What is your outlook going to be? Are you going to look at your circumstances, or are you going to look at the great God that you have? And here's what Max writes. Elijah had his difficulties, but he landed on his feet. He was a godly person in a godless society, steadfast in faith. Isn't that what we desire? To move forward with? Unbreakable courage that refuses to budge or compromise, to keep swimming upstream, to stay in the race and finish the course? How can we? By knowing what Elijah knew. By believing what he believed. The God of Israel lives. The monarchy is a mess, but the God of Israel lives. I'm all alone in my belief, but the God of Israel lives. The faith of my forefathers has been turned upside down. But the God of Israel lives. Or put it in our day, the companies laying off workers. But the God of Israel lives. The world is changing so fast, but the God of Israel lives. My health is declining. My body is aging, but the Lord God of Israel lives. Elijah gripped this belief and held on with both hands. The God of Israel lives. Won't you do the same? Faith in this living and loving God changes everything. We do not need smaller problems. We need a stalwart faith in our great big God. He still makes princes out of prisoners, counselors out of captives, and Sundays. Out of Fridays. King David once posed this question. When all that is good falls apart, what can good people do when evil seems to win? When disease ravages our bodies and death knocks at the door? What are we to do? What is the good and godly response to a fragile and vile world? David doesn't answer his question with an answer. He answers it with a declaration. The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord is on his throne in heaven. Psalm 11, verse four. His point is unmistakable. God is unaffected by the storms of this world. He is undeterred by the chaos of my life. He is unfrightened by the problems that frighten me. He is in his holy temple. He is on his throne in heaven, and he sees you, and he hears you. And he knows what you and I are going through. What an encouragement today from Max Lucado. I hope this I hope you didn't need this program today, but my guess is you probably did. Unbreakable courage. Max Lucado is our featured resource at Chris Fabry live.org. Maybe the chaos in your life is what I mentioned about a half hour ago, the tension that you are going through and that tension can be on the inside, or it can be on the outside, there is a relational fracture that you're going through, and you don't want this or something at work or something at school or something in the neighborhood or inside your. You're feeling that anxiety and you want it to be gone. Do you see in Elijah's life how the tension gave him momentum, how the tension moved him forward and closer to the heart of God? That's what I know Max would want for you and what I would want for you as well. Whatever you are going through, allow that to be sifted through the sovereign, loving, grace filled hand of God. Hope that was encouraging to you today. Thanks for listening. Chris Fabry Live is a production of Moody Radio, a Ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
