Persevere With PowerSample

The Rocky Path Before You

Elijah’s mantle, the same cloak he would one day drape around the shoulders of his protégé Elisha, was not simply a cape worn for practical reasons. Yes, it provided protection against the sun, rain and wind and kept him warm at night. But Elijah’s mantle represented his spiritual authority.

This mantle of miraculous power was on Elijah when ravens brought him food in the Kerith Ravine to help him survive the drought. When the brook dried up, Elijah gathered his mantle and followed God’s direction to the widow in Zarephath, whose flour and oil never ran out. After the widow’s son died, the prophet’s mantle became a prayer shawl as he cried out to the Lord for healing power to restore the boy’s life. Elijah’s mantle covered him when he called down fire from heaven and then cried out, “Here comes the rain!” 

No matter what Elijah experienced, he wore his mantle of God’s prophetic power. He knew what we must always remember: The God of the process is the God of the outcome. God wants to enlarge our perspectives so that we trust Him with our present circumstances as well as the uncertain future. When the path we expect suddenly leads to a dead end, we must not rush to doubt God; rather, we must reconsider our expectations.

If you are going through a spiritual, relational or financial drought, then keep going. If you have been through many such droughts of disappointment, distraction and derailment, then keep going faster. If you have been in a drought so long that your Instagram account pops up when I Google the word drought, then God bless you!

God is our immovable foundation. Even as we press onward and upward, diligently pushing our plows, we can count on God’s prophetic mantle of power, purpose and protection.

 Your mantle’s heavenly origin does not mean that you will not experience trials, temptations and tempests. It does mean, however, that God will equip and empower you to plow through them. And with each storm you endure and each obstacle you overcome, the power and patience you exhibit will add new provision—new fabric—to your mantle to accommodate the growing strength of your faith.

Questions to Ponder: What would you define as your “plow,” the main focus of your God-given responsibilities? How has He equipped you for this work?