Sermon: "When God Hides You"

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• published: 08 May 2012
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Read or Download: http://www.unlockingthebible.org/leaders-are-sustained-by-direct-dependence-on-god/ When God Hides You Pastor Colin Smith continues his series entitled: "Leadership: The Surprising Influence of a Godly Life." April 28th / 29th 2012 by Pastor Colin S. Smith The word of the Lord came to him, 'Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith.' 1 Kings 17:2 This is astonishing: Elijah must have done a double take... "What? We just launched the ministry and now you say 'Go hide yourself.'" This man has been preparing himself for ministry. He has given himself to studying the Word (Deuteronomy 11) and to prayer (James 5). His ministry is on the launch pad and God says "Go hide yourself!" The Cherith experience This man has a passion for the glory of God. He is the brightest light in the darkest place at the hardest time. He has the courage to walk into the palace of Ahab and speak the word of God to his face. Nobody else has the courage to do that, and then God says, "Go hide yourself." I would have struggled with this, if I'd been Eli, and you would have too. After the great ministry launch in the palace I would have said, "This is the moment to go on a national preaching tour. Let's bring the message of Deuteronomy 11 to every person in the nation." "Let's show the covenant people of God that He says, 'If you turn to idols there will be no rain,' and let's call people to repentance. Now get out the map and let's decide where we will begin." And then God says, "Go hide yourself by the brook Cherith." The Cherith experience comes to every Christian at some point in their journey. Cherith is where God closes the door to the thing you most want to do. I'm going to describe the Cherith experience so that you can recognize it in your own life. The outline today is very simple: Here's what God was doing for Elijah at Cherith and what God will do at Cherith for you... God Hid Him Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith. 1 Kings 17:3 Why did God hide Elijah? Was it protection? Maybe, but God was able to protect Elijah when he marched into Ahab's palace. God protected him on Mount Carmel in the presence of all the prophets of Baal. So God did not need to send Elijah to Cherith to protect him. Was it a judgment on the people? Undoubtedly, yes. One way that God judges a nation is that He withdraws His teachers of the Word of God. God hides his servants and there is a famine of the Word.