It’s Never Too Late to Return: The Lord’s Mercy Prevails (Part II)

1 Kings 19:1-10 NKJV

And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” ⁸ So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

I want to echo Day seven’s devotional (the final devotional) on our “Battle of the Altars” consecration. For some reason, the Lord has heavily emphasized to me the words that Pastor Isidore spoke on, saying, “All of us fall, and all of us drift, but we do NOT have to stay distant.

God is always calling us to return, and when He calls, go back EXPEDITIOUSLY.”

But as the Lord was ministering to me, He then said (as I will modify accordingly), “All of us fall, and all of us drift, but we do NOT have to stay distant.

God is calling us to return, and because He calls us, go back: His mercies PREVAIL.

I am not sure who needs to hear this; I know I did, but the Lord is calling you BACK. BACK to that place of prayer, BACK to that place of consecration, BACK to the first fruits of your labor!

As Elijah, we have once done these wonderful works for the Lord. We pray in tongues (seemingly) casting fire down from heaven. We rebuke demons and spirits in our lives. We minister and lead in our communities, but somehow that fire burns out. Sometimes, it’s even a slow burn. A burn you don’t notice going out. And like Elijah, when we notice that the world is crashing down, that there are people after us, trying to harm and kill us–our purpose, our destiny–we drift and fall because we stop relying on that altar. We start trying to make adjustments in our flesh (our own strength).

But as we reflect on Elijah, we see that doesn’t work. We run away with hopes that things will get better, but they only get worse. We run away because we think these things hold power over us, whether we consciously think about it or not. We stop relying on the hand of God to save us, and we rely on ourselves. Sometimes, if I can be honest, like Elijah, we want to die…spiritually (we want this walk to be over).

Yet still, even though you stop relying on the altar, you stop trusting in the hand of God, you stop wanting to walk this walk, that does not mean He has forsaken you. As Pastor Isidore has stated, “In the moments when you give up on your altar, trust me, He will not give up on you.”

That is made clear in Scripture. He has made sure to remind me of His mercies, and it brought me great comfort to know that He does not dissuade me from coming to Him in my mess, but He is willing and ready to receive me in whatever form I come in.

Psalms 103:11-13 NKJV

For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.

He is aware of us and our struggles, and we have a High Priest who understands us because He became like us. Jesus had His struggles (as a human in His temptations), but where He ran to for help always won against where His (earthly body) wanted to take Him.

Hebrews 4:15 NKJV

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

So, I say all this to say, be encouraged. The altar you once built may not be one you can return to. That may be for many reasons: changes in locations, seasons, or even mindsets. But the good thing is, you know how to erect another.

So, try again. Do it again. Make that altar and make it with His mercies in mind. It is never too late to return to that place. That place where the Lord dwells, because His mercies prevail.