Sermon: The DNA of Courage – 1 Kgs 17 (4/12/26)
Introduction
Scripture
Turn to 1 Kings 17.
And as you are turning, let me show you why this matters for you…
Series Introduction
We live in an Elijah-Elisha moment...
Do you know those names?
Elijah and Elisha were two of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament.
They lived in a time when...
When culture was redefining truth...
When God's people were compromising God's standards...
When faithfulness to the Lord was increasingly difficult...
And yet, these two men took a courageous stand...
Their lives show us what real faith looks like under pressure...
Their stories reveal how God works in the real world...
In this Elijah-Elisha moment, we need these champions...
We need to see what they saw...
We need to embrace the courage they embraced...
We need to stand with the same kind of resolve...
Here is why these men are so helpful for us...
Though they were among the greatest prophets...
They were also ordinary people just like us.
In fact, James 5.17 says it plainly:
Elijah was an ordinary person just like us...
James 5.17 | Elijah was a human being as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land. (CSB)
How were they like us?
Elijah and Elisha both experienced fear...
1 Kings 19.3 | Then Elijah became afraid and immediately ran for his life. When he came to Beer-sheba that belonged to Judah, he left his servant there,(CSB)
2 Kings 6.15 | When the servant of the man of God got up early and went out, he discovered an army with horses and chariots surrounding the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?” (CSB)
Elijah and Elisha both struggled with depression and discouragement...
Elijah experienced some kind of emotional collapse due to stress and depression.
1 Kings 19.4 | but he went on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. He said, “I have had enough! Lord, take my life, for I’m no better than my ancestors.”(CSB)
If you have ever felt that way, you are not alone.
Add David, Jeremiah, Moses, and Jonah to that list, and you will find that some of the most faithful men in Scripture have walked through that valley.
Elisha felt the weight of suffering so deeply that he wept...
2 Kings 8.11 | Then he stared steadily at him until he was ashamed. The man of God wept, (CSB)
Elijah and Elisha both went through periods of extreme loneliness.
1 Kings 19.10 | He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Armies, but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life.” (CSB)
Elijah and Elisha both knew physical exhaustion.
Elijah and Elisha walked through grief and loss.
Elijah and Elisha both faced opposition and criticism.
Elijah and Elisha both lived with great uncertainty about what came next...
Elijah and Elisha were not superheroes.
They were men who got tired, afraid, discouraged…
And yet they kept trusting God one step at a time.
And that is why this matters for you...
The same God who sustained Elijah and Elisha is the God who meets you today in...
Your fear...
Your exhaustion...
Your uncertainty...
So, if the Lord allows, over the next nine or ten weeks, we are going to walk through key moments in the lives of Elijah and Elisha...
And we are going to learn how to live for God when it feels like you might be the only one who still is.
Message Introduction
We begin in 1 Kings 17...
And Elijah is stepping into one of the darkest moments in Israel’s history...
Scripture
1 Kings 17.1 | Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, in whose presence I stand, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!”(CSB)
Who is whom?
Elijah is God's prophet...
He will show us how to stand courageously for the Lord when it feels like we are in the minority.
Ahab is the king of Israel
He is the most wicked king the nation had seen.
1 Kings 16.30 | But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the Lord’s sight more than all who were before him. (CSB)
And notice this...
The most wicked king in Israel’s history is about to be confronted by one man.
No Dew or rain?
Now, that statement only lands if you understand the context of the world they were living in...
Ahab and most of the Israelites worshipped a pantheon of gods.
Their principle god was Baal.
They believed Baal was the god who provided rain from heaven.
So when Elijah stands before Ahab and says,
“There will be no dew or rain...”
This is not just a weather forecast...
This is a direct confrontation.
Elijah is saying:
“The god you trust cannot do what you think he can do.”
This drought is not just about water...
It is about worship.
Idolatry
God hates idolatry...
The worship of false gods...
With this drought which will last three and a half years, God is doing two things...
First, he is bringing judgment on their idolatry...
Second, he is revealing the truth about himself...
Because while the people will focus on the drought of rain...
The real problem was something deeper...
There had already been a drought...
A drought of truth.
The very same thing is true today.
People point to a myriad of problems in the world, but the biggest problem today is a drought of truth!
Courage
Notice Elijah's courage...
He walks into the presence of the most powerful man in the nation...
And he delivers a message that no one else is willing to say.
He does not soften it...
He does not adjust it...
He does not apologize for it...
He simply speaks the truth.
And the question is...
Where does that kind of courage come from?
Because that is exactly what we need in a moment like this.
And that is what this passage is going to show us.
We will learn today, very specifically, how to have the same kind of courage in our lives and in our contexts.
1 Kings 17.2–7
Summary:
God sends Elijah into hiding by a brook (wadi) called Cherith.
There, God provides for him in a miraculous way...
Ravens bring him food morning and evening.
But eventually, the brook dries up because of the drought.
Elijah is in an in-between time...
Between God's provision and whatever happens next...
Details...
1 Kings 17.2 | Then the word of the Lord came to him: (CSB)
1 Kings 17.3 | “Leave here, turn eastward, and hide at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. (CSB)
1 Kings 17.4 | You are to drink from the wadi. I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.” (CSB)
1 Kings 17.5 | So he proceeded to do what the Lord commanded. Elijah left and lived at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. (CSB)
1 Kings 17.6 | The ravens kept bringing him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening, and he would drink from the wadi. (CSB)
We will come back to some of this...
But notice that God sends Elijah away to a safe place while God's judgment plays out.
God provides for Elijah...
Water from the wadi...
A WADI is a seasonal riverbed or stream channel that is usually dry but fills with water during periods of rain.
Ravens brought bread and meat...
Ravens were considered unclean animals.
So, here we see that God can even use unclean, unholy things to accomplish his will and care for his followers.
Elijah never saw the kitchen.
He never saw the source.
All he saw was that every morning and every evening, God had already been there before him.
1 Kings 17.7 | After a while, the wadi dried up because there had been no rain in the land. (CSB)
God's provision came to an end...
Elijah is in an in-between time...
1 Kings 17.8 | Then the word of the Lord came to him: (CSB)
1 Kings 17.9 | “Get up, go to Zarephath that belongs to Sidon and stay there. Look, I have commanded a woman who is a widow to provide for you there.” (CSB)
Now Elijah has his transition plan and marching orders...
1 Kings 17.10–12
Summary:
Elijah finds a widow gathering sticks.
He asks her for food, and she explains she only has enough flour and oil for one last meal before she and her son die.
Details...
1 Kings 17.10 | So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup and let me drink.” (CSB)
1 Kings 17.11 | As she went to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” (CSB)
1 Kings 17.12 | But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I don’t have anything baked—only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die.” (CSB)]]
1 Kings 17.13 | Then Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid; go and do as you have said. But first make me a small loaf from it and bring it out to me. Afterward, you may make some for yourself and your son, (CSB)
1 Kings 17.14 | for this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘The flour jar will not become empty and the oil jug will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the surface of the land.’ ” (CSB)
1 Kings 17.15 | So she proceeded to do according to the word of Elijah. Then the woman, Elijah, and her household ate for many days. (CSB)
1 Kings 17.16 | The flour jar did not become empty, and the oil jug did not run dry, according to the word of the Lord he had spoken through Elijah. (CSB)
God's Provision
We see God's provision once again.
God performs a miracle!
Miracles
We often think of the Bible as if miracles are happening on every page.
This causes some people trouble because we do not see those same kinds of miracles the same way and with this imagined frequency today.
The truth, though, is miracles are not the norm across biblical history.
They are the exception!
While there are some exceptions and God can certainly do anything he chooses whenever he chooses...
Most biblical miracles happen in three key seasons...
The time of Moses and Joshua...
The time of Elijah and Elisha...
The time of Jesus and the early church...
Most of the time, God carries out his work through ordinary means and the faithful obedience of ordinary people.
How to Be Courageous
So what does all of this mean for you?
When you feel outnumbered…
When truth is unpopular…
When obedience is costly…
This passage is not just about Elijah’s courage…
It is about the kind of courage God wants to form in you.
And in these verses, we see how that kind of courage is built.
Let me give you four marks of real, biblical courage…
Let me show you the formula for courage in the 1 Kings 17 story of Elijah and Ahab...
I. Stand Before the Lord BEFORE Standing FOR the Lord.
This is the most critical component of courage...
Look back at 1 Kings 17.1...
1 Kings 17.1 | Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, "As the Lord God of Israel lives, in whose presence I stand, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!" (CSB)
Notice what Elijah said when he stood courageously before king Ahab...
In whose presence I stand...
Elijah stood before the Lord before he stood before the king!
Courage is not the absence of fear...
Fear is normal.
Often fear is appropriate...
Often fear is wise...
Courage does not deny fear...
Courage is the settled awareness of the presence and favor of God.
Elijah was a normal person...
James 5.17 | Elijah was a human being as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land. (CSB)
What separated Elijah from the ordinary person who lived in fear of Ahab?
It was not his strength...
It was not his wealth...
It was not his influence...
The one thing that separated Elijah from the ordinary person was that HE STOOD BEFORE THE LORD...
He knew God's truth...
He knew what God had commanded...
He knew the direction God was calling him to go...
He lived his life in the presence of God.
Courage is always formed in the presence of God...
David
When David faced enemies and he was tempted to cower in fear, here is what gave him courage...
Psalm 27.1 | The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom should I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— whom should I dread? (CSB)
David’s courage came from who was with him.
Moses
Moses was famous for his leadership, influence, and courage.
What was Moses's secret?
Hebrews 11.27 | By faith he left Egypt behind, not being afraid of the king’s anger, for Moses persevered as one who sees him who is invisible. (CSB)
Moses endured because he saw what others could not see.
Isaiah
When Isaiah stood before the Lord, he saw him high and lifted up...
Isaiah 6.1 | In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. (CSB)
Then his fear was transformed into courage...
Isaiah 6.8 | Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking: Who will I send? Who will go for us? I said: Here I am. Send me. (CSB)
Your Situations...
Some of you need to stand for the Lord right NOW...
At work...
In your family...
In your neighborhood...
At school...
With friends...
It takes courage to live faithfully in this moment.
God has called you to be an Elijah where he has planted you...
But hear this clearly:
You will never stand before people until you first stand before the Lord!
Practical Steps...
If you need courage, it will not come because you...
Stoically ignore fear...
Just man up to a situation...
Numb your anxieties...
Which is what people often do in today's therapeutic culture...
Courage comes from...
Knowing God's truth...
Being anchored in what is right...
Walking with God in consistent, dependent prayer...
II. Speak the Truth, Not the Trend.
The Culture of Ahab's Israel...
There was one taboo subject in Israel while Ahab was king...
No one spoke against Baal.
Baal worship in Ahab's Israel was...
State-sponsored...
Socially enforced...
And personally costly to oppose...
You could still claim to worship the Lord...
(Many tried to blend the two religions, but God always rejects this kind of worship!)
But you could not speak against Baal.
You had to celebrate the LIE...
You had to fly a Baal flag...
You had to participate in Baal Pride day...
When it came to the worship of Baal, you could not...
Criticize...
Condemn...
Correct...
Challenge...
There was immense pressure culturally and legally to embrace the rightness of Baal and Baal worship.
The pressure was not just to tolerate it...
The pressure was to affirm it.
Elijah's Confrontation
Into that culture, Elijah steps before Ahab...
And with one sentence, he confronts the central idol of the nation.
1 Kings 17.1 | “There will be no dew or rain…” (CSB)
This was not a weather update.
This was a theological assault.
Elijah was saying:
“The god you trust to send rain cannot send a drop.”
He did not avoid the issue.
He did not soften the message.
He did not adjust to the culture.
He struck at the root of the lie!
The Pressure Today...
The world we live in is not so different...
The pressure is not just to stay silent...
The pressure is to agree.
What must we do...
We must refuse to whisper about what God says plainly...
We must challenge the idol everyone accepts as right and true...
Listen to how the prophet Isaiah said it...
Isaiah 5.20 | Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. (CSB)
Too many churches and too many Christians are failing to be an Elijah where God has planted them.
Silence is not faithfulness!
Faithfulness is faithfulness!
We must not be surprised...
2 Timothy 4.2 | Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching. (CSB)
2 Timothy 4.3 | For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. (CSB)
2 Timothy 4.4 | They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths.(CSB)
We must speak the truth, not the trend!
We must refuse to whisper about what God speaks plainly.
We must not adjust truth to fit the moment.
We must not trade clarity for approval.
We must speak the truth...
Clearly
Faithfully
Courageously
And with patience and love
If you live for the approval of people, you will follow the trend...
But if you live before the presence of God, you will speak the truth.
III. Obey Only One Step at a Time.
One Step At a Time...
One of the clearest patterns in this passage is this:
God never gives Elijah the whole plan.
He was told to...
Confront Ahab...
But he was not told where to go next.
Go to Cherith...
But he was not told how long to stay.
Drink from the wadi...
But he was not told what would happen when it dried up.
Go to Zarephath...
But he was not told who would feed him.
Ask the widow for her last meal...
But she was not immediately given food for herself and her son.
At every step, God gives just enough light for the next step.
God did not provide Elijah a long term plan in any of these crisis moments.
And when God provided food and water, he only did so one meal at a time.
So, what did Elijah do?
Elijah trusted and obeyed one step at a time.
Where obedience breaks down...
What if Elijah had said:
“I will obey when I understand the whole plan.”
He would have never moved.
He would have been paralyzed by uncertainty.
And many believers live right there.
Waiting for clarity...
Waiting for certainty...
Waiting for guarantees...
But delayed obedience is still disobedience.
This is where courage is formed...
Courage comes when we trust God only for the next step...
We obey him one step at a time...
We trust him one step at a time...
We do not measure God’s faithfulness by looking ahead...
We measure God's faithfulness and provision by looking back...
We trust God's faithfulness going forward because we have seen it looking back.
Hindsight often gives us the best evidence of God's faithfulness.
Hidden Testimony of Well-known Passages...
Proverbs 3.5–6
Many of you know Proverbs 3.5–6, but let me show you something you may have never noticed before...
Proverbs 3.5 | Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; (CSB)
Proverbs 3.6 | in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight. (CSB)
Notice the order implied in the passage...
First we must trust...
Trust expressed in obedience...
Then and only then will he make your paths straight.
And then the kicker...
The Hebrew implies God straightens the path as you walk it, not before you step onto it!
The Model Prayer
We even see this in the Model Prayer that Jesus gives to us...
Matthew 6.11 | Give us today our daily bread. (CSB)
Jesus did not teach us to pray "give us this month our monthly bread" or "give us this year our yearly provision."
He taught us to ask for today's bread today...
Because that is how God has always fed his people.
It was true for Israel in the wilderness with manna (which spoiled if hoarded overnight)...
It was true for Elijah at Cherith and Zarephath...
And it is true for you this week.
Bring it home...
Some of you are stuck right now…
Not because you do not know what God wants...
But because you want to know what comes after that.
And God is saying:
“Take the step you already know.”
Faithfulness is not knowing the whole plan.
Faithfulness is taking the next step.
IV. Encourage the Courage of Others.
Look back at 1 Kings 17.13...
Scripture
1 Kings 17.13 | Then Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid; go and do as you have said. But first make me a small loaf from it and bring it out to me. Afterward, you may make some for yourself and your son, (CSB)
Do not miss what is happening here...
Elijah is not just obeying God...
He is helping someone else obey God.
The widow is afraid.
She is down to her last meal.
She believes death is coming.
And Elijah steps into that moment and says:
“Do not be afraid.”
Elijah used his COURAGE TO ENCOURAGE THE COURAGE of the widow.
Elijah essentially says...
Ms. Widow...
I have been trusting the Lord for a long time...
He has always been faithful...
And he will be faithful here...
Just obey one step at a time...
That is how God often works.
He strengthens ONE person…
So that person can strengthen ANOTHER.
Courage is not meant to terminate on you.
It is meant to flow through you.
Courage can be contagious...
Courageous believers create spiritual updraft for others.
Look at the word ENCOURAGE.
The parts...
The prefix, EN, means to cause something to be...
To put something into...
Then the base word, COURAGE.
Encourage means to put or build courage in another person.
Discourage means to take courage out or away from another person.
Courage is transferable.
We can influence the amount of courage those around us possess.
Adding courage into the lives of others is a central New Testament command and a big part of what it means to live in a Christian community and church.
Philippians 1.14 | Most of the brothers have gained confidence in the Lord from my imprisonment and dare even more to speak the word fearlessly. (CSB)
Encouraging is a command, not a suggestion...
Hebrews 3.13 | But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception. (CSB)
Hebrews 10.25 | not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching. (CSB)
God never intended for you to stand alone.
Courage grows in community...
Scripture...
Philippians 1.14 | Most of the brothers have gained confidence in the Lord from my imprisonment and dare even more to speak the word fearlessly. (CSB)
One man’s courage gave courage to many.
That is how the church is supposed to work.
Courage multiplies in community.
Where this breaks down...
Many believers are trying to live courageously…
While disconnected from the very people God uses to strengthen them.
If you isolate yourself…
You will eventually weaken.
If you surround yourself with fearful, compromised voices…
Your courage will erode.
Bring it home...
Some of you need encouragement right now.
You are tired…
You are discouraged…
You are close to stepping back instead of standing firm…
And God has placed people around you for that very reason.
But others of you…
God wants to use you like Elijah.
There is someone in your life right now…
Who needs you to say:
“Do not be afraid.”
“Trust the Lord.”
“Take the next step.”
You will never become a consistently courageous Christian if you are not both receiving and giving encouragement.
God strengthens his people…
Through his people.
Conclusion
Did you know that Jesus mentioned the story we have studied this morning?
What Jesus said was important and shocking...
It was so shocking that the people tried to kill him for saying it...
Luke 4.28 | When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was enraged. (CSB)
Luke 4.29 | They got up, drove him out of town, and brought him to the edge of the hill that their town was built on, intending to hurl him over the cliff. (CSB)
(When I take people to tour Israel, this is one of the places we visit. We go up to the the edge of this hill to this very spot where they tried to kill Jesus.)
Jesus's Point...
What was the point Jesus was making when he pointed to this historical event where Elijah saved this widow woman and her son?
Jesus was saying:
God rescues the outsiders, the unlikely, the unexpected, and the undeserving...
In other words...
Grace is not owed to anyone...
Grace is freely given...
Why is that important?
Because we are that widow...
Because we/you are the unlikely, the unexpected, and the undeserving...
But the Lord brought you to hear this message today...
And he is inviting you to trust him...
GOSPEL INVITATION...