How Long?

In this message from the Questions series, Bro. Don takes us to Mount Carmel where the prophet Elijah confronts wicked King Ahab and challenges the people of Israel with one of Scripture's most piercing questions: "How long will you limp between two opinions?" He sets the stage by walking through 1 Kings 17, where Elijah spent time in hiddenness and preparation before God called him to step into the open and confront the prophets of Baal. Bro. Don draws out a powerful principle from this: we must often hide ourselves with God before we can show ourselves to the world. The message then moves to the dramatic contest on Mount Carmel, where 450 prophets of Baal cried out for six hours and received nothing, while Elijah prayed for less than sixty seconds and fire fell from heaven. Bro. Don applies this directly to us today, reminding us that Baal has simply changed his name. We call him money, success, recreation, and comfort, but any god that replaces the one true God is Baal. He closes with a challenge that sits at the heart of the series: the choice between God and everything else is not one we can avoid. Silence is itself a decision, and every person must answer how long they will straddle the fence before choosing to follow God fully.