1 Kings 18:40

1 Kings 18:40 says, And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.  Elijah told them to take the prophets of Baal and not let any escape and they brought them down to the brook of Keshon and he killed them there.  Not only had Baal, their god, failed to bring rain, but he failed to save them as well.  Even if people are successful in life today following other gods, these gods will never be able to save them, and one day they will be sent away into everlasting destruction, no matter how long their life here on earth may be.  Verse forty-one adds, And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.  Elijah then told Ahab to get up and eat, because he heard the sound of an abundance of rain.  We are not told that anyone else heard this, but Elijah did so by faith.  Even if others do not see or hear evidence of God's promises to us being fulfilled, by faith we should.  Verse forty-two continues, So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,  Ahab listened to Elijah and went to eat and drink, but Elijah went to the top of Mount Carmel and humbled himself before God.  He did not stand up in pride for having defeated all the prophets of Baal who were against him.  When we have a greet spiritual victory in life, we should never become filled with pride but should always humble ourselves before God.  If we are awaiting the fulfillment of God's promises, we should still wait in humbleness.  Verse forty-three states, And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.  Elijah told his servant to go and look toward the sea for the rain clouds, and he came back and told Elijah there was nothing to see.  Seven times Elijah told his servant to go and look.  We might have given up after four or five times with no evidence of God fulfilling His promise, but we never should give up until it is fulfilled or until we die.  Either way, we must continue to act out of faith even if we never see the result.  Verse forty-four adds, And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not.  The seventh time, the servant came back and told Elijah he saw a cloud about the size of a man's hand.  This still wasn't much visible sign of the coming of the rain, but Elijah told his servant to go and tell Ahab to get in his chariot and go home while he could because a great rain was coming.  Matthew Herny says that Ahab rode in his chariot while Elijah walked instead of Ahab showing honor to Elijah by allowing him to ride.  Of course, Elijah was not doing this for his honor but for God's honor.  Those that we witness to may never show their appreciation to us, but that is okay, because we do not witness for our honor, but for God's honor.  Verse forty-five continues, And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.  While Ahab was still on his way, the skies darkened, the wind blew, and there was a great rain.  God's promise to withhold the rain had come pass, and now His promise to restore the rain was being fulfilled, both as had been prophesied by Elijah.  Some people still might have written this off to coincidence, but both happened just as Elijah prophesied that they would.  People today will still attempt to credit the work of God to anything but God.  Verse forty-six concludes, And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.  We are told that God's hand was on Elijah, and he ran before Ahab, who was in a chariot, all the way to entrance to Jezreel.  We can be certain that as followers of Christ that God's hand will always be on us, and we can do whatever He calls us to do if we remain faithful to Him.