1 Kings 18:1 After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.”

The background of this verse: Elijah was a prophet of God. Ahab was King of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and had done some really bad stuff. Though compared to his wife Jezebel, he was almost a choirboy. Anyway, Elijah told Ahab that God wasn’t happy and there would be no rain in the land for a long time. That didn’t make Ahab happy, to put it mildly. Elijah took off and hid because by normal thinking, Ahab and Jezebel were not people the average Israelite would want to anger. (Jezebel had already put to death a whole bunch of God’s prophets).

Elijah hid in a dry land living at first by food birds brought him and then living with a poor widow and her child. FINALLY, God tells him, He will send rain, but first Elijah must go meet with Ahab.

Sometimes when we make a commitment to do the Godly or the right thing, the situation appears to get worse. We might feel like we are just barely getting by, or are stuck in a dry place. Then… when we hear from God, He wants us to do exactly what we have been most trying to avoid!

I remember seeing a magazine ad for Johnny Walker Black. It was a picture of an office building at night. Only a few lights were lit on the lower floors. There were more lights spiraling up the building to the top floor, where all the lights were lit. The caption stated, “As you move up, the work doesn’t get easier, but the rewards get better.”

As we move on in God’s Kingdom, things don’t usually get easier, but the reward at the top floor is out of this world.