One of my favorite parts of camping is the campfire. Mainly because I love s’mores: marshmallows, chocolate—yum!
When it comes time to build the fire to make the s’mores, you’d think I was ridiculous if I piled up all the wood and then dumped buckets and buckets of water over it, filling the fire pit until it ran around all over the ground.
When Elijah wanted to show that he worshiped the real God, he challenged 450 prophets of a fake god named Baal to a fire competition. Each side would build an altar, place a bull on top, and then pray. Elijah told them, “You call on the name of your gods, but I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire is the real God” (1 King 18:24).
The other prophets tried and tried, but their god never did a thing. (Duh, because he was fake.)
When it was Elijah’s turn, he built his altar and a big moat around it—and then dumped so much water over it that it was soaking wet! “The prophet Elijah stepped forward. He said, ‘Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make known today that you are God in Israel and that I’m your servant and have done all these things by your instructions. Answer me, Lord! Answer me! Then these people will know that you, Lord, are God and that you are winning back their hearts.’ So a fire from the Lord fell down and consumed the burnt offering, wood, stones, and dirt. The fire even dried up the water that was in the trench” (verses 36-38).
Today, people might think you are ridiculous for believing in a God who can do awesome things in your life, even as he rules from heaven. But the God who can start water on fire is the same God who can heal your brother, who helps you sleep when you’re afraid, who can help your confusion when your parents lose their jobs.
To him, it’s a piece of cake.
