The times in Israel were not times in which we should look for such a light as Elijah the Tishbite;
however, it was, exactly, God’s time. God delights in showing, in the very midst of it all, that He
is quite as sufficient for the darkest times as for the brightest. Elijah’s name shows where his
strength was. "My mighty One is Jehovah" is its full significance. "Eli" means "my God," but also
means "my strength" or "my mighty One." "Tishbite" is said by some to mean "the converter,"
the one in whom there was power to turn men from their own way unto Himself, and who sought
to bring a nation back to God. In his own lifetime there might seem to be little apparent success
in that; even so there is the lesson for us. For while God never allows His Word to fall fruitless
to the ground, and we may surely trust Him for that, on this very account we may leave success
to Him. We should not be indifferent, but on the other hand not daunted if our ministry seems to
yield few results. We should be anxious, first of all, that the seed and sowing should be to His
mind, rather than to see results which, perhaps, the day of manifestation will alone disclose.

God would have us realize that success is in His own hands, and that He is content sometimes to
work in a way which is to us inscrutable. Look at the Lord’s life:how many true converts and
followers did He have during His lifetime on earth? A few disciples gathered in an upper room
after His resurrection. Quite a number were converted at Pentecost, but as you go on you find no
such large success, even in apostolic hands, as you might perhaps expect from the gospel. Indeed,
the response to the gospel was quite variable. In many places to which the apostle Paul went,
instead of having converts by the score (which is what people expect now from evangelistic
meetings), there were very few, so far as we know. In only a few places at first was there large
response. In an exceptional place you find the Lord saying, "I have much people in this city."
Alas! the great spread of the gospel took place in proportion to its adulteration; and as it became
popular, so it became corrupt.

If we make success our object, it will become a snare to us. We shall get our eyes upon the
results, and by this, test our work untruly. For if that were the test, what about the success of Him
who said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nought." "Yet surely," was His
confidence, "My judgment is with the Lord, and My work with My God” (Isa. 49:4). God, on
the other hand, would have us look, in the most careful way possible, at walk and work and life
and to leave the results of the work to be made manifest in the day fast approaching which shall
make everything manifest. Are you content to leave it to that? Care for souls and love to them is,
of course, another thing. That should not be a matter of little moment, but beware of being
concerned about the results other people are obtaining or about what other people think about your
work. God is more concerned with quality than with quantity.

Now concerning Elijah, while God honored him in the most remarkable way (by sending fire from
heaven), yet there seemed no adequate result. Did the nation turn to God? No, in the next chapter
(1 Kings 19) he is fleeing from Jezebel because she has threatened to kill him. Then you find how
the ill-success of his mission affected Elijah. When he looked at that, he said, "Would God I might
die!" and sank down in discouragement. He was the man who, in the purposes of God, was not
going to die but was to be taken straight into heaven without seeing death at all. Yet he was
vanquished by the apparent lack of success after the wonderful display of power on Mount

Carmel.

Is this not a most wholesome warning to us not to look at the success so much as at the being with
God which will insure ultimate success? If we are to wait for success in order to know that God
has been with us in the work, then most of our work will be done not knowing whether or not we
have God’s mind in it. Yet, only as we work according to God’s will and in His strength can we
work in communion with Him. What comes of it is God’s concern, not ours. We need not be
afraid that His purpose will not be fulfilled, or that what is of Him will not prosper.

(Adapted from "The Man of God" in Help and Food, Vol. 8.)