I Kings 18:46 says, “And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.”
While sitting in a Naches, Washington school bus, as the driver for a track event, I had a great view of the girls’ 1500 meter race. The parking lot was high above the track field. I noticed one of our girls (I’m sorry I can’t remember her name, it was around 1970), starting out slow, almost half of a lap behind the rest. About half way through the race she began to catch up. She passed up runner after runner, winning by well over half a lap.
In Elijah’s victory run he outran Ahab and his chariot for over 15 miles. The whole time Ahab was watching Elijah run, he was able to reflect on all that had just happened on Mt. Carmel. He would soon be home to his wicked wife, Jezebel, and bring her up to speed.
Though Elijah did the running, it was God’s victory, “…the hand of the Lord was on Elijah…” (I Kings 18:46). The girl in the 1500 meter race not only won a victory for herself, but for all those involved in getting her to that point—parents, coaches, classmates, and even the bus driver who brought her there safely. We all rejoiced in the victory. In many ways Elijah had the power of the Lord. At his word the rain stopped and started. Obadiah, Ahab’s governor, recognized God’s power on Elijah. He was afraid to go tell Ahab that Elijah was here, because the Spirit of the Lord might carry him off somewhere and Obadiah would be accused of a false report (I Kings 18:12). This fear was legitimate, for Elijah was later carried up to Heaven by a whirlwind (II Kings 2:11).
God could have just touched Elijah, or simply said the word, to endue him with power. The fact that His hand was on Elijah shows how God was with him in the race. This is so much like Pentecost. In John 14:16-18, Jesus promised to send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit—not to just dwell with the disciples, but to be in them. As physically fit as Elijah was, his last leg of the journey (running a 15-mile plus marathon after all he had already done), was humanly impossible.
Hebrews 12:1-3 states, “Wherefore seeing we are also compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” It is important that we do all we can to win the race. We need to lay aside some things. We need to have patience. Yes, we must look to Jesus, keeping our eyes on Him, noticing how He ran, considering how He endured. We need your hand, Holy Spirit, to finish THE VICTORY RUN!
