And when all the people saw it,
they fell face down on the ground and cried out,
“The Lord, he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”
1 Kings 18:39

Read: 1Kings 18:16-39, 1 Kings 19:1-11
Pilgrim’s Progress Stage 4 Part 4

Relate: Elijah has a dramatic showdown with the prophets of Baal. For a long time, the people of Israel had a divided heart and mind. He calls them together with a challenge. Me vs these 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. We will both build an altar of sacrifice. Then we will pray. Whichever god lights the fire is the one we should all worship. The false prophets go first. For hours, they dance and sing and cut themselves and intercede with their god to light the fire. Nothing. Elijah has them throw a few hundred gallons of water over the altar. Prays a short, four-sentence prayer. Fire comes down and consumes the offering.

After this victory, we see four “P’s” in Elijah’s next steps: praise, palliation, provision, and preparation. The first immediate response is praise. The entire audience who saw this showdown began to cry out, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” The next two P’s are palliation and provision. The queen hears about this amazing, miraculous showdown and says, “He’s a dead man. I’m gonna kill him.” Elijah responds with fear and runs away. He cries out, “I’ve had enough of this. I just want to die.” This is an emotional response to a biological need. Elijah has just crashed down after an intense, highly charged moment. An angel shows up and says, “Eat some food (provision) and go to bed (palliation).” He wakes up, and the angel says, “Do it again.” He eats some more, sleeps some more. Then he goes down to a mountain where he can meet with God and find out what comes next (preparation).

React: In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian goes through the same four P’s. When he delivers the decisive blow to Apollyon, the demon flees, and Christian breaks out in song. This is praise. Then he found some leaves from the Tree of Life that healed his wounds. This is palliation. He eats some of the food and drink that was given to him by the ladies at Palace Beautiful. This is provision. Finally, he begins to proceed forward, but he does so with his sword still drawn because he knows there is another battle to come. Preparation.

How do we respond to the victories in our lives? Sometimes I have tried to downplay them in a false sense of humility. Oh, it was nothing. All glory to God, but really, it is no big deal. Other times, I revel in them. Years later, I am still talking about that one (and only) battle I fought against a silly little demon that has grown into a titanic clash against an enemy who is Thanos, Sauron, Fenrir, and Galactus all rolled into one. A healthy balance is somewhere in between. We need to take time to rejoice in God’s victory on our behalf. We need to allow time to recover from the fight. But then we need to rejoin the battle. For as long as we are still breathing, the fight goes on.

Respond:

Dear God,
Help me to recognize that just because the battle is won does not mean the work is finished. I pray that You would help me to manage my victories well. Give me the wisdom to praise You for without You, the victory simply cannot happen. But then help me to spend time wisely to recover both physically and spiritually as much as is needed. But finally, help me to get up and get going again. Until I have reached the Celestial City, there is still more life to walk out.
Amen

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