Why I Write For eXXit

Why I Write For eXXit
Today's Three-minute Bible Study
Print, Study and Apply
Title: Why I Write For eXXit Partner
Keywords: "discouragement" "hopelessness"
Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation.
Passage: 1 Kings 19:1-18*

1. Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.

2. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time."

3. And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

4. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers."

5. And he lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, "Arise, eat."

6. Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake [baked on] hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.

7. And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you."

8. So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.

9. Then he came there to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD [came] to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

10. And he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, torn down Thine altars and killed Thy prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

11. So He said, "Go forth, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; [but] the LORD [was] not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, [but] the LORD [was] not in the earthquake.

12. And after the earthquake a fire, [but] the LORD [was] not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.

13. And it came about when Elijah heard [it,] that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice [came] to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

14. Then he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, torn down Thine altars and killed Thy prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

15. And the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram;

16. and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.

17. "And it shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death.

18. "Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him."

Questions

1. Why did Elijah run into the wilderness?

2. What do you do when you are discouraged?

Practical help

Are you discouraged? Sometimes it hits me as one of the eXXit writers just how big the porn problem is. What do I think I am doing in the face of this mounting social problem? Everywhere I look, it seems people are dropping like flies. Then I think about Elijah.

Sure he had a few great victories. Calling fire from heaven to consume a sacrifice he had just ordered soaked with water was as huge a display of God’s power. That’s a once-in-life-time event! But maybe that’s an important point. Perhaps Elijah thought, “I’ve done it now. Evil is vanquished and the world is saved, thanks to me.”

It’s true many turned from worshiping Baal that day, but you know how some of those fox hole conversions can be. What had he really accomplished in the great scheme of things? Jezebel sent a messenger to answer his question. Evil, rather than running, roared back in his face, “You’re toast Elijah!”

So Elijah ran off to have a pity party. Who did he think he was anyway? What’s the point to all the effort?

So why do I do it? Why do I write for eXXit? Because there is someone out there who God is calling to go deeper with Him, and porn is the idol that is holding him or her back. But it’s more than this. You see, I have come to see that God works with individual people, not the masses. Even though Jesus fed thousands with a few loaves and fish, God was working on individual hearts as they sat, chewed, and wondered. Some understood this was a free meal and were impressed, others understood this was an invitation to a radically new way of living and were changed forever.

So whether or not one or a thousand people read this, is not the point at all. My job is simply to tell you this. Your job is to listen to God and do what He tells you. And when you get discouraged, think about Elijah.

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*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."