By Theodore Epp

      James 5:16-18

      The Bible says Elijah was a man subject to like passions, or as another translation says it, "A man of like nature" (James 5:17, RSV). God permits us to see where Elijah failed so that we need not think we are dealing with a perfect man. He was human just as we are; what sets him apart from most of us is that he fully believed God.

      What Elijah accomplished is possible to us today if God should call us to such a ministry and if we will believe and trust Him for it. It is true that we know nothing of Elijah's family background or of his life before his public ministry began. He appeared suddenly, and he went away suddenly. Yet he was a man who had the same fallen nature that we have; he was subject to temptations similar to ours; he faced the same tests and trials that all humans face. He walked with the same God we have the privilege of walking with. He sought the Lord for the same things that you and I seek Him for. We may seek the Lord as Elijah did, for our Saviour made God's will very plain: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matt. 7:7). The Apostle Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phil. 4:13).

      "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:27).