Called to drive Baalism out of Israel, Elijah preached, prayed, and prophesied for twenty-five grueling years. As he came to the close of his ministry, he thought he had failed. He asked God to take his life. However, God views things differently than man does, and He never considered this great spiritual leader a failure. Elijah had faithfully preached without fear or favor during the years of Kings Ahab and Amaziah. When Elijah's earthly life was to end, God sent a special chariot to bear him in triumph to glory. The book of 2 Kings is dominated by the influence of this great prophet.
During all his years of preaching, Elijah did not have great throngs of converts. However, one young farmer was touched deeply by the prophet's message and left everything to follow him. Elisha shared Elijah's compassion and asked for a double portion of the power of that great prophet. God granted that request, and the ministry of Elijah was extended beyond his own lifetime by Elisha. In fact, no other Bible prophet performed as many miracles as did Elisha. No wonder that, from God's viewpoint, Elijah was no failure.
God sees our lives differently than we do. We are limited by time and space, but God can look beyond the next hill to a grander view. Rather than becoming discouraged with ourselves, we should leave the judgment of our lives to God. We should remember that real success does not depend on results; rather, it depends on whether we are obeying God's unique plan for our lives. When we leave the results with God, we do not need to feel discouraged in times of stress and apparent lack of results.
“And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.”
2 Kings 2:10 KJV
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